Complexity of random smooth functions on the high-dimensional sphere (Q2434915)

The paper deals with the number of critical points of Gaussian smooth functions on the \(N\) dimensional sphere, and more especially, it tries to characterize a Morse function on a high-dimensional sphere, and to determine the number of critical values of a given index, or below a given index. The main result is based on an identity which relates the mean number of critical points of index \(k\) with the \(k\)th smallest eigenvalue of the Gaussian orthogonal ensemble, and shows that there is an exponentially large number of critical points of given index. The asymptotic complexity of the mean number of critical points is carefully investigated and an explicit formula is derived.