Conjecture on Airy point-process fluctuations of higher eigenvalues

About 8 years old · traced to

Let GnG_n be the hexagonal-lattice rhombus and let HnH_n be its weighted adjacency operator in either the i.i.d. or mixed model. Let fˉγ\bar f_\gamma and gˉγ\bar g_\gamma be the constants from the mixed-model theorem, and let λn,k\lambda_{n,k} be the kkth smallest positive eigenvalue of HnH_n. Define

αn,k=−log⁡λn,k−fˉγn(ngˉγ/2)1/3.\alpha_{n,k}=\frac{-\log \lambda_{n,k}-\bar f_\gamma n}{(n\bar g_\gamma/2)^{1/3}}.

Higher-eigenvalue Airy-process conjecture. For any fixed kk, as n→∞n\to\infty, the tuple (αn,1,…,αn,k)(\alpha_{n,1},\ldots,\alpha_{n,k}) converges in distribution to the top kk points of the Airy point process. This conjecture extends the proved Tracy–Widom fluctuation result for the smallest positive eigenvalue to any fixed number of higher positive eigenvalues in both models.

References

Primary source

Marcin Kotowski and Bálint Virág, “Tracy-Widom fluctuations in 2D random Schrodinger operators”, arXiv:1803.11208 (2018).

Progress summary

Refreshed
Open

The conjecture remains unproved beyond the first eigenvalue, with only a partial estimate for several eigenvalues.

A 2018 paper formulates the conjecture that, for each fixed kk, the normalized first kk positive eigenvalues converge jointly to the top kk points of the Airy point process in both models. No later proof, counterexample, or verification was found.

Known results

  • In the mixed model, the k=1k=1 fluctuation theorem is proved with Tracy–Widom GUE behavior.
  • In the mixed model, the product of the lowest kk eigenvalues is related, up to order n1/3n^{1/3}, to a nonintersecting-path partition function.
  • The corresponding k=1k=1 result for the i.i.d. model is described as requiring additional polymer-fluctuation results, rather than as proved.
  • Joint Airy point-process convergence for any k>1k>1 is not established.

Current status (as of August 2026): The higher-eigenvalue Airy-process conjecture remains open in both models; only the mixed-model first-eigenvalue theorem and a partial multi-eigenvalue estimate are recorded.

Sources

Solutions 0

No solutions have been posted yet.