Eve Armstrong is an assistant professor of physics at New York Tech and a research associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). She received her B.A. in Astrophysics from Columbia University and her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California San Diego (UCSD). She studies nonlinear dynamical systems, specifically high-density astrophysical environments and networks of biological neurons. She is also a theater producer and director, and develops workshops for scientists to hone their communication skills, using methodologies from theater, comedy, and storytelling.
Recent Projects/Research
Science
Armstrong's main scientific interest is neutrino emission from core-collapse supernovae (CCSN). A CCSN occurs when a supermassive star explodes catastrophically at the end of its nuclear-fusion-burning lifetime. This process bears upon fundamental questions regarding the universe's building blocks. The physics is fiercely nonlinear, as are most realistic representations of natural processes, and some parameters of that process remain poorly constrained. In addition, the available measurements—that is, Earth-based neutrino detections—are extremely sparse.
Having in hand a poorly constrained model and sparse measurements, Armstrong's research group focuses on developing an optimization-based inference methodology. Optimization is a means to solve a model given available measurements, where the measurements are assumed to be a manifestation of underlying physical dynamics. Their specific method differs from the better-known machine-learning paradigm, as it is designed for the case of extremely sparse—rather than plentiful—data.
Comedy and Science Communication
Armstrong is co-creator and co-artistic director of Reality Aside Theatre, a 501(c)3 incorporated in New York State. Her company has produced dark interactive theatre for public audiences, as well as science-themed sketch comedy for tri-state area schools. Currently, Armstrong leads workshops for young scientists to develop their communication skills and comfort with an audience. In these workshops, participants develop science-themed stand-up and storytelling pieces, for performance at New York Tech’s annual Symposium on University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE) and at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Armstrong also uses satire to encourage science readership, posting an annual April Fool’s article on the e-print archive arXiv.org: https://reality-aside.com/aprilfool
Publications
For CV and publications, see: https://reality-aside.com/research/
Courses taught at New York Tech
- General Physics I and II (Phy 170 and 180)
- Special Topics in Physics (Phy 490)