In this episode, we talk with Dr. Jácome (Jay) Armas, a theoretical physicist who works at the Niels Bohr Institute (University of Copenhagen) and the University of Amsterdam.

We spend time on the concept of emergence: how complex behaviour can arise from simple underlying rules in ways you couldn't predict just by looking at the components. Dr. Armas connects this to everything from physics to biology to social systems.

The conversation also covers string theory and why some physicists moved from thinking about particles as points to viewing them as strings. We also get into why gravity is so hard to study at small scales and what we really know about black holes.

And what a surprising pub quiz question Jay prepared for us!

USEFUL LINKS

More about Jay Armas: https://jacomearmas.org/

Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen: https://nbi.ku.dk/english/

University of Amsterdam: https://www.uva.nl/en

Institute of Advanced Study, University of Amsterdam: https://ias.uva.nl/research-themes/foundations-and-methods/emergence/emergent-phenomena.html

Science and Cocktails: http://www.scienceandcocktails.org/

Jay Armas' book about quantum gravity: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/conversations-on-quantum-gravity/09DF54D24DE7477F6459432540121B28

RELATED EPISODES

Thermodynamics and Chemical Engines with Prof. Massimiliano Esposito and Dr. Emanuele Penocchio: https://www.scilux.eu/episodes/thermodynamics

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