Splitting of a gap in the bulk of the spectrum of random matrices (Q2302615)

The main object of the article is the Fredholm determinant \[ P_s(A) = \mathrm{det}(I-K_s)_A, \] where \(K_s\) is the integral operator on \(L^2(A,dx)\) given by the kernel \[ K_s(x,y) = \frac{\sin s(x-y)}{\pi(x-y)}; \] for a wide class of random matrices ensembles, in particular, for the Gaussian unitary ensemble. \(P_s(A)\) is the probability that the set \(\frac{s}{\pi} A\) contains no eigenvalues in the bulk scaling limit where the average distance between the eigenvalues is \(1\). The authors are interested in the asymptotics of \(P_s(A)\) as \(s\to\infty\), and study the transition between a single interval \(A_0 = (\alpha,\beta)\) and the set \(A\) composed of two disjoint intervals: \(A = A_1\cup A_2\), \(A_1 = (\alpha_1,\beta_1), A_2 = (\alpha_2,\beta_2)\). For the initial stage of the transition, the authors explicitly determine all the asymptotic terms (up to the decreasing ones) of the logarithm of the probability. The results are obtained by analyzing double-scaling asymptotics of a Toeplitz determinant whose symbol is supported on two arcs of the unit circle.