Assistant Professor (Universitair Docent) in Philosophy of Science at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation and the Institute of Physics of the University of Amsterdam. I am also a Senior Researcher in the Quantum for Society and Business research line at QuSoft, and a member of the Vossius Center for the History of Humanities and Sciences.
In the summer of 2025, I will be a Visiting Scholar at St John's College, Oxford.
Main Areas of Research
Philosophy of Physics. I work on the philosophy of spacetime theories, the philosophy of quantum field theory, and the philosophy of quantum gravity, particularly string theory. My interests include dualities in all areas of physics (from quantum mechanics, electrodynamics, condensed matter theory, and statistical mechanics, to quantum field theory and string theory), symmetries, emergence of spacetime, and recent applications of algebraic methods to black holes and quantum cosmology.
Together with Jeremy Butterfield, I have developed a view that we call the Schema for dualities, and we have discussed how dualities bear on more general topics in the philosophy of science. Based on the generalisation of a duality that I call a quasi-duality, I am currently developing a geometric view of physical theories.
Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Technology. I work on theoretical equivalence, theories and models, emergence and reduction, fundamentality, scientific and technological understanding, heuristics and the philosophy of scientific change, scientific realism, the relationship between science and philosophy, and the societal impact of quantum technology.
Theoretical and Mathematical Physics. I have worked on the holographic principle and AdS-CFT, supergravity, topological quantum field theory and black holes. Together with Kostas Skenderis and Sergey Solodukhin, we developed a method called holographic renormalization.
For my full list of publications, see my Google scholar profile.
Short Bio
I did my PhD in History and Philosophy of Science under Jeremy Butterfield at the University of Cambridge, as the Tarner student in Philosophy of Science and History of Ideas (2015-2020) at Trinity College, Cambridge.
I did my PhD in theoretical physics under Gerard 't Hooft (Nobel Prize in Physics 1999) at Utrecht University in 2001. After that, I was a postdoc in theoretical and mathematical physics at the University of California, Los Angeles (2001-2003), the Max-Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Potsdam (2003-2006), and King's College, London (2006-2008). Before joining the Faculty of Science, I was a lecturer at the Amsterdam University College, University of Amsterdam (2009-2020).
During the winter of 2018-2019, I was a visiting fellow in philosophy at the Black Hole Initiative, Harvard University, through invitation by Peter Galison.
Latest News in the Research Team:
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Upcoming and Recent Outreach Events:
Research Group:
Larger History and Philosophy of Physics/Epistemology and Philosophy of Science group: Jeroen van Dongen, Sonja Smets.
Collaborators in Research Projects:
Research Collaborations:
Recent International Summer Schools:
Graduate Courses at the University of Amsterdam:
Undergraduate Courses at the University of Amsterdam
I supervise master's theses in the Master Physics and Astronomy, and in the Master of Logic.
Recent Master's Thesis Awards:
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