arXiv · 2503.00101
Modular-invariant random matrix theory and AdS${}_3$ wormholes
Abstract
We develop a non-perturbative definition of RMT${}_2$: a generalization of random matrix theory that is compatible with the symmetries of two-dimensional conformal field theory. Given any random matrix ensemble, its $n$-point spectral correlations admit a prescribed modular-invariant lift to RMT${}_2$, which moreover reduce to the original random matrix correlators in a near-extremal limit. Central to the prescription is a presentation of random matrix theory in Mellin space, which lifts to two dimensions via the $\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ spectral decomposition employed in previous work. As a demonstration we perform the explicit RMT${}_2$ lift of two-point correlations of the GUE Airy model. We propose that in AdS$_3$ pure gravity, semiclassical amplitudes for off-shell $n$-boundary torus wormholes with topology $\Sigma_{0,n} \times S^1$ are given by the RMT${}_2$ lift of JT gravity wormhole amplitudes. For the three-boundary case, we identify a gravity calculation which matches the RMT${}_2$ result.
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Jan Boruch, Gabriele Di Ubaldo, Felix M. Haehl, Eric Perlmutter, Moshe Rozali. 2025-02-28. Modular-invariant random matrix theory and AdS${}_3$ wormholes. https://doi.org/10.1103/4hhn-c6mp
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