Combinatorics Seminar

When: Sunday, May 17, 10am Where: Schreiber 309 Speaker: Ohad Feldheim, Tel Aviv University Title: Non-backtracking walks and eigenvalues of random matrices

Abstract:

During the 1950's Wigner and Dyson proposed random matrices as a model to describe the excited levels in complex nuclei. Since then Random Matrix Theory has grown far beyond nuclear physics, having applications in various fields of physics and mathematics. In this talk we will show the connection between eigenvalues of random matrices and weighted walks on graphs. We will then use combinatorial methods for counting various types of weighted walks, especially non-backtracking ones, in order to give a good estimation for the distribution of the eigenvalues of such matrices.

Joint work with A. Sodin