Breadcrumb
Properties of the eigenvalue gap probability at multi-critical points of a hermitian matrix model
Fri 15 March 2013, 14:00
Max Atkin
Universitat Bielefeld
Organiser: Nina Snaith
ABSTRACT
The distribution of the largest eigenvalue of a random gaussian hermitian matrix has appeared
in a huge variety of problems over the last twenty years; particularly in its double scaled form,
known as the Tracy-Widom distribution. We review recent results in which higher order analogues
of the Tracy-Widom distribution were re-derived using methods from quantum gravity,
leading to significant simplifications of previously known formulas. We will also comment on recent
unpublished work in which the tails of the gap probability are related to instanton effects.