Two-point convergence of the stochastic six-vertex model to the Airy process

Abstract

In this paper we consider the stochastic six-vertex model in the quadrant started with step initial data. After a long time $T$, it is known that the one-point height function fluctuations are of order $T^{1/3}$ and governed by the Tracy-Widom distribution. We prove that the two-point distribution of the height function, rescaled horizontally by $T^{2/3}$ and vertically by $T^{1/3}$, converges to the two-point distribution of the Airy process. The starting point of this result is a recent connection discovered by Borodin-Bufetov-Wheeler between the stochastic six-vertex model and the ascending Hall-Littlewood process (a certain measure on plane partitions). Using the Macdonald difference operators, we obtain formulas for two-point observables for the ascending Hall-Littlewood process, which for the six-vertex model give access to the joint cumulative distribution function for its height function. A careful asymptotic analysis of these observables gives the two-point convergence result under certain restrictions on the parameters of the model.