The number of critical points of a Gaussian field: finiteness of moments

arXiv2305.17586MaRDI QIDQ6438239FDOQ6438239

Authors: Louis Gass, Michele Stecconi 

Publication date: 27 May 2023

Abstract: Let $f$ be a Gaussian random field on $mathbb{R}^d$ and let $X$ be the number of critical points of $f$ contained in a compact subset. A long-standing conjecture is that, under mild regularity and non-degeneracy conditions on $f$, the random variable $X$ has finite moments. So far, this has been established only for moments of order lower than three. In this paper, we prove the conjecture. Precisely, we show that $X$ has finite moment of order $p$, as soon as, at any given point, the Taylor polynomial of order $p+1$ of $f$ is non-degenerate. We present a simple and general approach that is not specific to critical points and we provide various applications. In particular, we show the finiteness of moments of the nodal volumes and the number of critical points of a large class of smooth, or holomorphic, Gaussian fields, including the Bargmann-Fock ensemble.

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Gaussian processes (60G15) Geometric probability and stochastic geometry (60D05) Central limit and other weak theorems (60F05) Interpolation between normed linear spaces (46B70) (L^p)-limit theorems (60F25) Critical points of functions and mappings on manifolds (58K05)

This page was built for publication: The number of critical points of a Gaussian field: finiteness of moments

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q6438239)