The eigenvalue statistics of a pair $(M_1,M_2)$ of $n\times n$ Hermitian matrices taken random with respect to the measure
$$\frac{1}{Z_n}\exp\big(-n\Tr (V(M_1)+W(M_2)-τM_1M_2)\big) {\rm d}M_1 {\rm d} M_2 $$ can be described in terms of two families of biorthogonal polynomials. In this paper we give a steepest descent analysis of a $4 \times 4$ matrix-valued Riemann-Hilbert problem characterizing one of the families of biorthogonal polynomials in the special case $W(y)=y^4/4$ and $V$ an even polynomial. As a result we obtain the limiting behavior of the correlation kernel associated to the eigenvalues of $M_1$ (when averaged over $M_2$) in the global and local regime as $n\to \infty$ in the one-cut regular case. A special feature in the analysis is the introduction of a vector equilibrium problem involving both an external field and an upper constraint.
We prove a nonlinear steepest descent theorem for Riemann-Hilbert problems with Carleson jump contours and jump matrices of low regularity and slow decay. We illustrate the theorem by deriving the long-time asymptotics for the mKdV equation in the similarity sector for initial data with limited decay and regularity.
In the application of the Deift-Zhou steepest descent method to the Riemann-Hilbert problem for orthogonal polynomials, a model Riemann-Hilbert problem that appears in the multi-cut case is solved with the use of hyperelliptic theta functions. We present here an alternative approach which uses meromorphic differentials instead of theta functions to construct the solution of the model Riemann-Hilbert problem.
We study the asymptotic behavior of Riemann-Hilbert problems (RHP) arising in the AKNS hierarchy of integrable equations. Our analysis is based on the $\dbar$-steepest descent method. We consider RHPs arising from the inverse scattering transform of the AKNS hierarchy with $H^{1,1}(\R)$ initial data. The analysis will be divided into three regions: fast decay region, oscillating region and self-similarity region (the Painlevé region). The resulting formulas can be directly applied to study the long-time asymptotic of the solutions of integrable equations such as NLS, mKdV and their higher-orde…
We consider the recently introduced notion of denominators of Padé--like approximation problems on a Riemann surface. These denominators are related as in the classical case to the notion of orthogonality over a contour. We investigate a specific setup where the Riemann surface is a real elliptic curve and the measure of orthogonality is supported on one of the two real ovals. Using a characterization in terms of a Riemann--Hilbert problem, we determine the strong asymptotic behaviour of the corresponding orthogonal functions for large degree. The theory of vector bundles and the non-abelian C…
The initial value problem of an integrable system, such as the Nonlinear Schr\" odinger equation, is solved by subjecting the linear eigenvalue problem arising from its Lax pair to inverse scattering, and, thus, transforming it to a matrix Riemann-Hilbert problem (RHP) in the spectral variable. In the semiclassical limit, the method of nonlinear steepest descent, supplemented by the $g$-function mechanism, is applied to this RHP to produce explicit asymptotic solution formulae for the integrable system. These formule are based on a hyperelliptic Riemann surface $\Rscr=\Rscr(x,t)$ in the spectr…
Under investigation in this work is the coupled Sasa-Satsuma equation, which can describe the propagations of two optical pulse envelopes in birefringent fibers. The Riemann-Hilbert problem for the equation is formulated on the basis of the corresponding $5\times5$ matrix spectral problem, which allows us to present a suitable representation for the solution of the equation. Then the Deift-Zhou steepest descent method is used to analyze the long time behavior of the coupled Sasa-Satsuma equation.
A special class of four-point correlation functions in the maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory is given by the square of the Fredholm determinant of a generalized Bessel kernel. In this note, we re-express its logarithmic derivatives in terms of a two-dimensional Riemann-Hilbert problem. We solve the latter in the null limit making use of the Deift-Zhou steepest descent. We reproduce the exact octagonal anomalous dimension in 't Hooft coupling and provide its novel formulation as a convolution of the non-linear quasiclassical phase with the Fermi distribution in the limit of the infinit…
These lectures introduce the method of nonlinear steepest descent for Riemann-Hilbert problems. This method finds use in studying asymptotics associated to a variety of special functions such as the Painlevé equations and orthogonal polynomials, in solving the inverse scattering problem for certain integrable systems, and in proving universality for certain classes of random matrix ensembles. These lectures highlight a few such applications.
In this paper, we mainly focus on the Cauchy problem of an integrable nonlocal Hirota equation with initial value in weighted Sobolev space. Through the spectral analysis of Lax pairs, we successfully transform the Cauchy problem of the nonlocal Hirota equation into a solvable Riemann-Hilbert problem. Furthermore, in the absence of discrete spectrum, the long-time asymptotic behavior of the solution for the nonlocal Hirota equation is obtained through the Dbar steepest descent method. Different from the local Hirota equation, the leading order term on the continuous spectrum and residual error…
We illustrate a general method for calculating spectral statistics that combines the universal (Random Matrix Theory limit) and the non-universal (trace-formula-related) contributions by giving a heuristic derivation of the three-point correlation function for the zeros of the Riemann zeta function. The main idea is to construct a generalized Hermitian random matrix ensemble whose mean eigenvalue density coincides with a large but finite portion of the actual density of the spectrum or the Riemann zeros. Averaging the random matrix result over remaining oscillatory terms related, in the case o…
We derive semiclassical asymptotics for the orthogonal polynomials P_n(z) on the line with respect to the exponential weight \exp(-NV(z)), where V(z) is a double-well quartic polynomial, in the limit when n, N \to \infty. We assume that ε\le (n/N) \le λ_{cr} - εfor some ε> 0, where λ_{cr} is the critical value which separates orthogonal polynomials with two cuts from the ones with one cut. Simultaneously we derive semiclassical asymptotics for the recursive coefficients of the orthogonal polynomials, and we show that these coefficients form a cycle of period two which drifts slowly with the ch…
Universality of eigenvalue spacings is one of the basic characteristics of random matrices. We give the precise meaning of universality and discuss the standard universality classes (sine, Airy, Bessel) and their appearance in unitary, orthogonal, and symplectic ensembles. The Riemann-Hilbert problem for orthogonal polynomials is one possible tool to derive universality in unitary random matrix ensembles. An overview is presented of the Deift/Zhou steepest descent analysis of the Riemann-Hilbert problem in the one-cut regular case. Non-standard universality classes that arise at singular point…
We continue the study of the Hermitian random matrix ensemble with external source $\frac{1}{Z_n} e^{-n \Tr({1/2}M^2 -AM)} dM$ where $A$ has two distinct eigenvalues $\pm a$ of equal multiplicity. This model exhibits a phase transition for the value $a=1$, since the eigenvalues of $M$ accumulate on two intervals for $a > 1$, and on one interval for $0 < a < 1$. The case $a > 1$ was treated in part I, where it was proved that local eigenvalue correlations have the universal limiting behavior which is known for unitarily invariant random matrices, that is, limiting eigenvalue correlations are ex…
We consider the large-$N$ asymptotics of a system of discrete orthogonal polynomials on an infinite regular lattice of mesh $\frac{1}{N}$, with weight $e^{-NV(x)}$, where $V(x)$ is a real analytic function with sufficient growth at infinity. The proof is based on formulation of an interpolation problem for discrete orthogonal polynomials, which can be converted to a Riemann-Hilbert problem, and steepest descent analysis of this Riemann-Hilbert problem.
The purpose of this paper is to push forward the theory of operator-valued Riemann Hilbert problems and demonstrate their effectiveness in respect to the implementation of a non-linear steepest descent method \textit{á la} Deift-Zhou. In the present paper, we demonstrate that the operator-valued Riemann--Hilbert problem arising in the characterisation of so-called $c$-shifted integrable integral operators allows one to extract the large-$x$ asymptotics of the Fredholm determinant associated with such operators.
We consider the Cauchy problem for the classical Hirota equation on the line with decaying initial data. Based on the spectral analysis of the Lax pair of the Hirota equation, we first expressed the solution of the Cauchy problem in terms of the solution of a Riemann-Hilbert problem. Further we apply nonlinear steepest descent analysis to obtain the long-time asymptotics of the solution in the critical transition region $|\frac{x}{t} - \frac{α^2}{3β}|t^{2/3} \leq M$, $M$ is a positive constant. Our result shows that the long time asymptotics of the Hirota equation can be expressed in terms of …
We obtain an asymptotic expansion for the solution of the Cauchy problem for the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation in the small dispersion limit near the point of gradient catastrophe (x_c,t_c) for the solution of the dispersionless equation. The sub-leading term in this expansion is described by the smooth solution of a fourth order ODE, which is a higher order analogue to the Painleve I equation. This is in accordance with a conjecture of Dubrovin, suggesting that this is a universal phenomenon for any Hamiltonian perturbation of a hyperbolic equation. Using the Deift/Zhou steepest descent me…
In this work, the Riemann-Hilbert problem for the 3-component Manakov system is formulated on the basis of the corresponding $4\times 4$ matrix spectral problem. Furthermore, by applying the nonlinear steepest descent techniques to an associated $4\times 4$ matrix valued Riemann-Hilbert problem, we can find leading-order asymptotics for the Cauchy problem of the 3-component Manakov system.
We study unitary random matrix ensembles in the critical case where the limiting mean eigenvalue density vanishes quadratically at an interior point of the support. We establish universality of the limits of the eigenvalue correlation kernel at such a critical point in a double scaling limit. The limiting kernels are constructed out of functions associated with the second Painleve equation. This extends a result of Bleher and Its for the special case of a critical quartic potential. The two main tools we use are equilibrium measures and Riemann-Hilbert problems. In our treatment of equilibrium…
We study the asymptotic behavior of oscillatory Riemann-Hilbert problems arising in the AKNS hierarchy of integrable nonlinear PDE's. Our method is based on the Deift-Zhou nonlinear steepest descent method in which the given Riemann-Hilbert problem localizes to small neighborhoods of stationary phase points. In their original work, Deift and Zhou only considered analytic phase functions. Subsequently Varzugin extended the Deift-Zhou method to a certain restricted class of non-analytic phase functions. In this paper, we extend Varzugin's method to a substantially more general class of non-analy…
We introduce a new class of two(multi)-matrix models of positive Hermitean matrices coupled in a chain; the coupling is related to the Cauchy kernel and differs from the exponential coupling more commonly used in similar models. The correlation functions are expressed entirely in terms of certain biorthogonal polynomials and solutions of appropriate Riemann-Hilbert problems, thus paving the way to a steepest descent analysis and universality results. The interpretation of the formal expansion of the partition function in terms of multicolored ribbon-graphs is provided and a connection to the O…
We consider the gap probability for the Pearcey and Airy processes; we set up a Riemann--Hilbert approach (different from the standard one) whereby the asymptotic analysis for large gap/large time of the Pearcey process is shown to factorize into two independent Airy processes using the Deift-Zhou steepest descent analysis. Additionally we relate the theory of Fredholm determinants of integrable kernels and the theory of isomonodromic tau function. Using the Riemann-Hilbert problem mentioned above we construct a suitable Lax pair formalism for the Pearcey gap probability and re-derive the two …
We establish universality of local eigenvalue correlations in unitary random matrix ensembles (1/Z_n) |\det M|^{2α} e^{-n\tr V(M)} dM near the origin of the spectrum. If V is even, and if the recurrence coefficients of the orthogonal polynomials associated with |x|^{2α} e^{-nV(x)} have a regular limiting behavior, then it is known from work of Akemann et al., and Kanzieper and Freilikher that the local eigenvalue correlations have universal behavior described in terms of Bessel functions. We extend this to a much wider class of confining potentials V. Our approach is based on the steepest desc…
In this paper, we obtain the long-time asymptotics of complex mKdV equation via Defit-Zhou method (Non-linear steepest descent method). The Cauchy problem of complex mKdV equation is transformed into the corresponding Riemann-Hilbert problem on the basis of the Lax pair and the scattering matrix. After that Riemann-Hilbert problems are converted through a decomposition of the matrix-valued spectral function and factorizations of the jump matrix for Riemann-Hilbert problem. Finally, by solving the last model problem, the long-time asymptotics of complex mKdV equation are derived.
We consider unitary random matrix ensembles Z_{n,s,t}^{-1}e^{-n tr V_{s,t}(M)}dM on the space of Hermitian n x n matrices M, where the confining potential V_{s,t} is such that the limiting mean density of eigenvalues (as n\to\infty and s,t\to 0) vanishes like a power 5/2 at a (singular) endpoint of its support. The main purpose of this paper is to prove universality of the eigenvalue correlation kernel in a double scaling limit. The limiting kernel is built out of functions associated with a special solution of the P_I^2 equation, which is a fourth order analogue of the Painleve I equation. In…
This is a review of the Riemann-Hilbert approach to the large $N$ asymptotics in random matrix models and its applications. We discuss the following topics: random matrix models and orthogonal polynomials, the Riemann-Hilbert approach to the large $N$ asymptotics of orthogonal polynomials and its applications to the problem of universality in random matrix models, the double scaling limits, the large $N$ asymptotics of the partition function, and random matrix models with external source.
We study the gap probabilities of the single-time Tacnode process. Through steepest descent analysis of a suitable Riemann-Hilbert problem, we show that under appropriate scaling regimes the gap probability of the Tacnode process degenerates into a product of two independent gap probabilities of the Airy processes.
In this paper, we consider the initial value problem for the complex short pulse equation with a Wadati-Konno-Ichikawa type Lax pair. We show that the solution to the initial value problem has a parametric expression in terms of the solution of $2\times 2$-matrix Riemann-Hilbert problem, from which an implicit one-soliton solution is obtained on the discrete spectrum. While on the continuous spectrum we further establish the explicit long-time asymptotic behavior of the non-soliton solution by using Deift-Zhou nonlinear steepest descent method.
We consider the random matrix ensemble with an external source \[ \frac{1}{Z_n} e^{-n \Tr({1/2}M^2 -AM)} dM \] defined on $n\times n$ Hermitian matrices, where $A$ is a diagonal matrix with only two eigenvalues $\pm a$ of equal multiplicity. For the case $a > 1$, we establish the universal behavior of local eigenvalue correlations in the limit $n \to \infty$, which is known from unitarily invariant random matrix models. Thus, local eigenvalue correlations are expressed in terms of the sine kernel in the bulk and in terms of the Airy kernel at the edge of the spectrum. We use a characterization…
In this paper we studied the asymptotic eigenvalue statistics of the 2 matrix model with a quartic monomial and a general even polynomial potential. We studied the correlation kernel for the eigenvalues of one of the matrices in asymptotic limit. We extended the results of Duits and Kuijlaars to the case when the limiting eigenvalue density for one of the matrices is supported on multiple intervals. The results are achieved by constructing the parametrix to a Riemann-Hilbert problem obtained by Duits and Kuijlaars with theta functions and then showing that this parametrix is well-defined by st…
It has been shown by Strahov and Fyodorov that averages of products and ratios of characteristic polynomials corresponding to Hermitian matrices of a unitary ensemble, involve kernels related to orthogonal polynomials and their Cauchy transforms. We will show that, for the unitary ensemble $\frac{1}{\hat Z_n}|\det M|^{2α}e^{-nV(M)}dM$ of $n\times n$ Hermitian matrices, these kernels have universal behavior at the origin of the spectrum, as $n\to\infty$, in terms of Bessel functions. Our approach is based on the characterization of orthogonal polynomials together with their Cauchy transforms vi…
In this paper, we consider Muttalib-Borodin ensemble of Laguerre type, a determinantal point process over $[0,\infty)$ which depends on the varying weights $x^αe^{-nV(x)}$, $α>-1$, and a parameter $θ$. For $θ$ being a positive integer, we derive asymptotics of the associated biorthogonal polynomials near the origin for a large class of potential functions $V$ as $n\to \infty$. This further allows us to establish the hard edge scaling limit of the correlation kernel, which is previously only known in the special cases and conjectured to be universal. Our proof is based on the Deift/Zhou nonline…
We prove that general correlation functions of both ratios and products of characteristic polynomials of Hermitian random matrices are governed by integrable kernels of three different types: a) those constructed from orthogonal polynomials; b) constructed from Cauchy transforms of the same orthogonal polynomials and finally c) those constructed from both orthogonal polynomials and their Cauchy transforms. These kernels are related with the Riemann-Hilbert problem for orthogonal polynomials. For the correlation functions we obtain exact expressions in the form of determinants of these kernels.…
In this work, we investigate the long-time asymptotic behavior of the Wadati-Konno-Ichikawa equation with initial data belonging to Schwartz space at infinity by using the nonlinear steepest descent method of Deift and Zhou for the oscillatory Riemann-Hilbert problem. Based on the initial value condition, the original Riemann-Hilbert problem is constructed to express the solution of the Wadati-Konno-Ichikawa equation. Through a series of deformations, the original RH problem is transformed into a model RH problem, from which the long-time asymptotic solution of the equation is obtained explici…
We study polynomials that are orthogonal with respect to a varying quartic weight \exp(-N(x^2/2+tx^4/4)) for t<0, where the orthogonality takes place on certain contours in the complex plane. Inspired by developments in 2D quantum gravity, Fokas, Its, and Kitaev, showed that there exists a critical value for t around which the asymptotics of the recurrence coefficients are described in terms of exactly specified solutions of the Painleve I equation. In this paper, we present an alternative and more direct proof of this result by means of the Deift/Zhou steepest descent analysis of the Riemann-…
In this paper we study two multicritical correlation kernels and prove that they converge to the Pearcey kernel in a certain double scaling limit. The first kernel appears in a model of non-intersecting Brownian motions at a tacnode. The second arises as a triple scaling limit of the eigenvalue correlation kernel in the Hermitian two-matrix model with quartic/quadratic potentials. The two kernels are different but can be expressed in terms of the same tacnode Riemann-Hilbert problem. The proof is based on a steepest descent analysis of this Riemann-Hilbert problem. A special feature in the ana…
In this paper, we compute the probability that an $N \times N$ matrix from the generalised Gaussian Unitary Ensemble (gGUE) is positive definite, extending a previous result of Dean and Majumdar \cite{DM}. For this purpose, we work out the large degree asymptotics of semi-classical Laguerre polynomials and their recurrence coefficients, using the steepest descent analysis of the corresponding Riemann--Hilbert problem.
We study the chiral two-matrix model with polynomial potential functions $V$ and $W$, which was introduced by Akemann, Damgaard, Osborn and Splittorff. We show that the squared singular values of each of the individual matrices in this model form a determinantal point process with correlation kernel determined by a matrix-valued Riemann-Hilbert problem. The size of the Riemann-Hilbert matrix depends on the degree of the potential function $W$ (or $V$ respectively). In this way we obtain the chiral analogue of a result of Kuijlaars-McLaughlin for the non-chiral two-matrix model. The Gaussian ca…
We study the Cauchy problem for the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) hierarchy in the small dispersion limit where $\e\to 0$. For negative analytic initial data with a single negative hump, we prove that for small times, the solution is approximated by the solution to the hyperbolic transport equation which corresponds to $\e=0$. Near the time of gradient catastrophe for the transport equation, we show that the solution to the KdV hierarchy is approximated by a particular Painlevé transcendent. This supports Dubrovins universality conjecture concerning the critical behavior of Hamiltonian perturbations…
Following Deift-Zhou's nonlinear steepest descent method, the long-time asymptotic behavior for the Cauchy problem of the 5th order modified Korteweg-de Vries equation is analyzed. Based on the inverse scattering transform, the 5th order MKdV is transformed to a 2 by 2 oscillatory Riemann-Hilbert problem, then by manipulating the Cauchy operator and reducing the degree of the phase function, the long-time asymptotics of the solution is given in terms of solutions of the parabolic cylinder equation.
We establish the existence of a real solution y(x,T) with no poles on the real line of the following fourth order analogue of the Painleve I equation, x=Ty-({1/6}y^3+{1/24}(y_x^2+2yy_{xx})+{1/240}y_{xxxx}). This proves the existence part of a conjecture posed by Dubrovin. We obtain our result by proving the solvability of an associated Riemann-Hilbert problem through the approach of a vanishing lemma. In addition, by applying the Deift/Zhou steepest-descent method to this Riemann-Hilbert problem, we obtain the asymptotics for y(x,T) as x\to\pm\infty.
In this work, we employ the $\bar{\partial}$-steepest descent method to investigate the Cauchy problem of the nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger (NNLS) equation with finite density type initial conditions in weighted Sobolev space $\mathcal{H}(\mathbb{R})$. Based on the Lax spectrum problem, a Riemann-Hilbert problem corresponding to the original problem is constructed to give the solution of the NNLS equation with the finite density type initial boundary value condition. By developing the $\bar{\partial}$-generalization of Deift-Zhou nonlinear steepest descent method, we derive the leading order …
We consider polynomials orthogonal on $[0,\infty)$ with respect to Laguerre-type weights $w(x)=x^αe^{-Q(x)}$, where $α>-1$ and where $Q$ denotes a polynomial with positive leading coefficient. The main purpose of this paper is to determine Plancherel-Rotach type asymptotics in the entire complex plane for the orthonormal polynomials with respect to $w$, as well as asymptotics of the corresponding recurrence coefficients and of the leading coefficients of the orthonormal polynomials. As an application we will use these asymptotics to prove universality results in random matrix theory. We will p…
Given $K$ arbitrary poles, which are neither necessarily distinct nor bounded, on the extended real line, a corresponding ordered base of rational functions orthogonal with respect to varying exponential weights is constructed: this gives rise to a $K$-fold family of orthogonal rational functions (ORFs). The ORF problem is characterised as a family of $K$ matrix Riemann-Hilbert problems (RHPs) on the extended real line, and a corresponding family of $K$ energy minimisation (variational) problems containing external fields with singular points is formulated, and the existence, uniqueness, and r…
The rational solutions of the Painlevé-II equation appear in several applications and are known to have many remarkable algebraic and analytic properties. They also have several different representations, useful in different ways for establishing these properties. In particular, Riemann-Hilbert representations have proven to be useful for extracting the asymptotic behavior of the rational solutions in the limit of large degree (equivalently the large-parameter limit). We review the elementary properties of the rational Painlevé-II functions, and then we describe three different Riemann-Hilbert…
The authors consider the length, $l_N$, of the length of the longest increasing subsequence of a random permutation of $N$ numbers. The main result in this paper is a proof that the distribution function for $l_N$, suitably centered and scaled, converges to the Tracy-Widom distribution [TW1] of the largest eigenvalue of a random GUE matrix. The authors also prove convergence of moments. The proof is based on the steepest decent method for Riemann-Hilbert problems, introduced by Deift and Zhou in 1993 [DZ1] in the context of integrable systems. The applicability of the Riemann-Hilbert technique…
