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Random Matrix & Probability Theory Seminar

March 31, 2021 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Beginning immediately, until at least December 31, all seminars will take place virtually, through Zoom.

In the 2020-2021 AY, the Random Matrix and Probability Theory Seminar will take place on select Wednesdays from 2:00 – 3:00pm virtually. This seminar is organized by Christian Brennecke (brennecke@math.harvard.edu ).

To learn how to attend this seminar, please fill out this form.

The schedule below will be updated as the details are confirmed.

Spring 2021:

Date Speaker Title/Abstract
3/31/2021 Philippe Sosoe, Cornell University Title:  Fluctuation bounds for O’Connell-Yor type systems

Abstract: The O’Connell-Yor polymer is a fundamental model of a polymer in a random environment. It corresponds to the positive temperature version of Brownian Last Passage percolation. Although much is known about this model thanks to remarkable algebraic structure uncovered by O’Connell, Yor and others, basic estimates for the behavior of the tails of the centered partition function for finite N that are available for zero temperature models are missing. I will present an iterative estimate to obtain strong concentration and localization bounds  for the O’Connell-Yor polymer on an almost optimal scale N^{1/3+\epsilon}.

In the second part of the talk, I will introduce a system of interacting diffusions describing the successive increments of partition functions of different sizes. For this system, the N^{2/3} variance upper bound known for the OY polymer can be proved for a general class of interactions which are not expected to correspond to integrable models.

Joint work with Christian Noack and Benjamin Landon.

4/7/2021 Yue M. Lu, Harvard TitleHouseholder Dice: A Matrix-Free Algorithm for Simulating Dynamics on Random Matrices

Abstract: In many problems in statistical learning, random matrix theory, and statistical physics, one needs to simulate dynamics on random matrix ensembles. A classical example is to use iterative methods to compute the extremal eigenvalues/eigenvectors of a (spiked) random matrix. Other examples include approximate message passing on dense random graphs, and gradient descent algorithms for solving learning and estimation problems with random initialization. We will show that all such dynamics can be simulated by an efficient matrix-free scheme, if the random matrix is drawn from an ensemble with translation-invariant properties. Examples of such ensembles include the i.i.d. Gaussian (i.e. the rectangular Ginibre) ensemble, the Haar-distributed random orthogonal ensemble, the Gaussian orthogonal ensemble, and their complex-valued counterparts.A “direct” approach to the simulation, where one first generates a dense n × n matrix from the ensemble, requires at least O(n^2) resource in space and time. The new algorithm, named Householder Dice (HD), overcomes this O(n^2) bottleneck by using the principle of deferred decisions: rather than fixing the entire random matrix in advance, it lets the randomness unfold with the dynamics. At the heart of this matrix-free algorithm is an adaptive and recursive construction of (random) Householder reflectors. These orthogonal transformations exploit the group symmetry of the matrix ensembles, while simultaneously maintaining the statistical correlations induced by the dynamics. The memory and computation costs of the HD algorithm are O(nT) and O(n T^2), respectively, with T being the number of iterations. When T ≪ n, which is nearly always the case in practice, the new algorithm leads to significant reductions in runtime and memory footprint.Finally, the HD algorithm is not just a computational trick. I will show how its construction can serve as a simple proof technique for several problems in high-dimensional estimation
4/14/2021 Canceled
4/16/2021
Friday
Patrick Lopatto (IAS) Title: Fluctuations in local quantum unique ergodicity for generalized Wigner matrices

Abstract: In a disordered quantum system, delocalization can be understood in many ways. One of these is quantum unique ergodicity, which was proven in the random matrix context by Bourgade and Yau. It states that for a given eigenvector and set of coordinates J, the mass placed on J by the eigenvector tends to N^{-1}|J|, the mass placed on those coordinates by the uniform distribution. Notably, this convergence holds for any size of J, showing that the eigenvectors distribute evenly on all scales.

I will present a result which establishes that the fluctuations of these averages are Gaussian on scales where |J| is asymptotically less than N, for generalized Wigner matrices with smooth entries. The proof uses new eigenvector observables, which are analyzed dynamically using the eigenvector moment flow and the maximum principle.

This is joint work with Lucas Benigni.

4/21/2021 Jean-Christophe Mourrat, Courant Institute, NYU TitleMean-field spin glasses: beyond Parisi’s formula?

Abstract: Spin glasses are models of statistical mechanics encoding disordered interactions between many simple units. One of the fundamental quantities of interest is the free energy of the model, in the limit when the number of units tends to infinity. For a restricted class of models, this limit was predicted by Parisi, and later rigorously proved by Guerra and Talagrand. I will first show how to rephrase this result using an infinite-dimensional Hamilton-Jacobi equation. I will then present partial results suggesting that this new point of view may allow to understand limit free energies for a larger class of models, focusing in particular on the case in which the units are organized over two layers, and only interact across layers.

Fall 2020:

Date Speaker Title/Abstract
9/9/2020 Yukun He (Zurich) Title: Single eigenvalue fluctuations of sparse Erdős–Rényi graphs

Abstract: I discuss the fluctuations of individual eigenvalues of the adjacency matrix of the Erdös-Rényi graph $G(N,p)$. I show that if $N^{-1}\ll p \ll N^{-2/3}, then all nontrivial eigenvalues away from 0 have asymptotically Gaussian fluctuations. These fluctuations are governed by a single random variable, which has the interpretation of the total degree of the graph. The main technical tool of the proof is a rigidity bound of accuracy $N^{-1-\varepsilon}p^{-1/2}$ for the extreme eigenvalues, which avoids the $(Np)^{-1}$-expansions from previous works. Joint work with Antti Knowles.

10/14/2020 David Belius (University of Basel) TitleThe TAP approach to mean field spin glasses

Abstract: The Thouless-Anderson-Palmer (TAP) approach to the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick mean field spin glass model was proposed in one of the earliest papers on this model. Since then it has complemented subsequently elaborated methods  in theoretical physics and mathematics, such as the replica method, which are largely orthogonal to the TAP approach. The TAP approach has the advantage of being interpretable as a variational principle optimizing an energy/entropy trade-off, as commonly encountered in statistical physics and large deviations theory, and potentially allowing for a more direct characterization of the Gibbs measure and its “pure states”. In this talk I will recall the TAP approach, and present preliminary steps towards a solution of mean field spin glass models entirely within a TAP framework.

10/28/2020 Giuseppe Genovese (University of Basel) TitleNon-convex variational principles for the RS free energy of restricted Boltzmann machines

Abstract: From the viewpoint of spin glass theory, restricted Boltzmann machines represent a veritable challenge, as to the lack of convexity prevents us to use Guerra’s bounds. Therefore even the replica symmetric approximation for the free energy presents some challenges. I will present old and new results around the topic along with some open problems.

11/4/2020 Benjamin Landon (MIT) Title:  Fluctuations of the spherical Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model

Abstract:  The SSK model was introduced by Kosterlitz, Thouless and Jones as a simplification of the usual SK model with Ising spins. Fluctuations of its observables may be related to quantities from random matrix theory using integral representations.  In this informal talk we discuss some results on fluctuations of this model at critical temperature and with a magnetic field

11/11/2020
3:00 – 4:00pm
Lucas Benigni (University of Chicago) Title:  Optimal delocalization for generalized Wigner matrices

Abstract: We consider eigenvector statistics of large symmetric random matrices. When the matrix entries are sampled from independent Gaussian random variables, eigenvectors are uniformly distributed on the sphere and numerous properties can be computed exactly. In particular, we can bound their extremal coordinates with high probability. There has been an extensive amount of work on generalizing such a result, known as delocalization, to more general entry distributions. After giving a brief overview of the previous results going in this direction, we present an optimal delocalization result for matrices with sub-exponential entries for all eigenvectors. The proof is based on the dynamical method introduced by Erdos-Yau, an analysis of high moments of eigenvectors as well as new level repulsion estimates which will be presented during the talk. This is based on a joint work with P. Lopatto.

11/18/2020 Simone Warzel (Technical University of Munich) Title:  Hierarchical quantum spin glasses

Abstract: Hierarchical spin glasses such as the generalised random energy model are known to faithfully model typical energy landscapes in the classical theory of mean-field spin glasses. Their built-in hierarchical structure is known to emerge spontaneously in the spin-glass phase of, e.g., the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model. In this talk, I will review recent results on the effects of a transversal magnetic field on such hierarchical quantum spin glasses.
In particular, I will present a formula of Parisi-type for their free energy which allows to make predictions about the phase diagram.
12/2/2020 Sabine Jansen (LMU Munich) TitleThermodynamics of a hierarchical mixture of cubes

Abstract: The talk discusses a toy model for phase transitions in mixtures of incompressible droplets. The model consists of non-overlapping hypercubes of side-lengths 2^j, j\in \N_0. Cubes belong to an admissible set such that if two cubes overlap, then one cube is contained in the other, a picture reminiscent of Mandelbrot’s fractal percolation model. I will present exact formulas for the entropy and pressure, discuss phase transitions from a fluid phase with small cubes towards a condensed phase with a macroscopic cube, and briefly sketch some broader questions on renormalization and cluster expansions that motivate the model. Based on arXiv:1909.09546 (J. Stat. Phys. 179 (2020), 309-340).

For information on previous seminars, click here

The schedule will be updated as details are confirmed.

Details

Date:
March 31, 2021
Time:
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Event Category: