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Marc Potters , Jean-Philippe Bouchaud
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A F I R S T C O U R S E I N R A N D O M M AT R I X T H E O RY

The real world is perceived and broken down as data, models and algorithms in the eyes
of physicists and engineers. Data is noisy by nature and classical statistical tools have so
far been successful in dealing with relatively smaller levels of randomness. The recent
emergence of Big Data and the required computing power to analyze them have rendered
classical tools outdated and insufficient. Tools such as random matrix theory and the study
of large sample covariance matrices can efficiently process these big datasets and help make
sense of modern, deep learning algorithms. Presenting an introductory calculus course for
random matrices, the book focuses on modern concepts in matrix theory, generalizing
the standard concept of probabilistic independence to non-commuting random variables.
Concretely worked out examples and applications to financial engineering and portfolio
construction make this unique book an essential tool for physicists, engineers, data analysts
and economists.

m a r c p o t t e r s is Chief Investment Officer of CFM, an investment firm based in Paris.

Marc maintains strong links with academia and, as an expert in random matrix theory, he
has taught at UCLA and Sorbonne University.

j e a n - p h i l i p p e b o u c h au d is a pioneer in econophysics. His research includes ran-

dom matrix theory, statistics of price formation, stock market fluctuations, and agent-based
models for financial markets and macroeconomics. His previous books include Theory of
Financial Risk and Derivative Pricing (Cambridge University Press, 2003) and Trades,
Quotes and Prices (Cambridge University Press, 2018), and he has been the recipient of
several prestigious, international awards.

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Marc Potters , Jean-Philippe Bouchaud
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Marc Potters , Jean-Philippe Bouchaud
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A FIRST COURSE IN RANDOM

M AT R I X T H E O RY
for Physicists, Engineers and Data Scientists

M A R C P OT T E R S
Capital Fund Management, Paris

J E A N - P H I L I P P E B O U C H AU D
Capital Fund Management, Paris

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Marc Potters , Jean-Philippe Bouchaud
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Names: Potters, Marc, 1969– author. | Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe, 1962– author.
Title: A first course in random matrix theory : for physicists, engineers
and data scientists / Marc Potters, Jean-Philippe Bouchaud.
Description: Cambridge ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020022793 (print) | LCCN 2020022794 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781108488082 (hardback) | ISBN 9781108768900 (epub)
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Contents

Preface page ix
List of Symbols xiv
Part I Classical Random Matrix Theory 1
1 Deterministic Matrices 3
1.1 Matrices, Eigenvalues and Singular Values 3
1.2 Some Useful Theorems and Identities 9
2 Wigner Ensemble and Semi-Circle Law 15
2.1 Normalized Trace and Sample Averages 16
2.2 The Wigner Ensemble 17
2.3 Resolvent and Stieltjes Transform 19
3 More on Gaussian Matrices* 30
3.1 Other Gaussian Ensembles 30
3.2 Moments and Non-Crossing Pair Partitions 36
4 Wishart Ensemble and Marčenko–Pastur Distribution 43
4.1 Wishart Matrices 43
4.2 Marčenko–Pastur Using the Cavity Method 48
5 Joint Distribution of Eigenvalues 58
5.1 From Matrix Elements to Eigenvalues 58
5.2 Coulomb Gas and Maximum Likelihood Configurations 64
5.3 Applications: Wigner, Wishart and the One-Cut Assumption 69
5.4 Fluctuations Around the Most Likely Configuration 73
5.5 An Eigenvalue Density Saddle Point 78
6 Eigenvalues and Orthogonal Polynomials* 83
6.1 Wigner Matrices and Hermite Polynomials 83
6.2 Laguerre Polynomials 87
6.3 Unitary Ensembles 91

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vi Contents

7 The Jacobi Ensemble* 97

7.1 Properties of Jacobi Matrices 97
7.2 Jacobi Matrices and Jacobi Polynomials 102
Part II Sums and Products of Random Matrices 109
8 Addition of Random Variables and Brownian Motion 111
8.1 Sums of Random Variables 111
8.2 Stochastic Calculus 112
9 Dyson Brownian Motion 121
9.1 Dyson Brownian Motion I: Perturbation Theory 121
9.2 Dyson Brownian Motion II: Itô Calculus 124
9.3 The Dyson Brownian Motion for the Resolvent 126
9.4 The Dyson Brownian Motion with a Potential 129
9.5 Non-Intersecting Brownian Motions and the Karlin–McGregor Formula 133
10 Addition of Large Random Matrices 136
10.1 Adding a Large Wigner Matrix to an Arbitrary Matrix 136
10.2 Generalization to Non-Wigner Matrices 140
10.3 The Rank-1 HCIZ Integral 142
10.4 Invertibility of the Stieltjes Transform 145
10.5 The Full-Rank HCIZ Integral 149
11 Free Probabilities 155
11.1 Algebraic Probabilities: Some Definitions 155
11.2 Addition of Commuting Variables 156
11.3 Non-Commuting Variables 161
11.4 Free Product 170
12 Free Random Matrices 177
12.1 Random Rotations and Freeness 177
12.2 R-Transforms and Resummed Perturbation Theory 181
12.3 The Central Limit Theorem for Matrices 183
12.4 Finite Free Convolutions 186
12.5 Freeness for 2 × 2 Matrices 193
13 The Replica Method* 199
13.1 Stieltjes Transform 200
13.2 Resolvent Matrix 204
13.3 Rank-1 HCIZ and Replicas 209
13.4 Spin-Glasses, Replicas and Low-Rank HCIZ 215

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Contents vii

14 Edge Eigenvalues and Outliers 220

14.1 The Tracy–Widom Regime 221
14.2 Additive Low-Rank Perturbations 223
14.3 Fat Tails 229
14.4 Multiplicative Perturbation 231
14.5 Phase Retrieval and Outliers 234
Part III Applications 241
15 Addition and Multiplication: Recipes and Examples 243
15.1 Summary 243
15.2 R- and S-Transforms and Moments of Useful Ensembles 245
15.3 Worked-Out Examples: Addition 249
15.4 Worked-Out Examples: Multiplication 252
16 Products of Many Random Matrices 257
16.1 Products of Many Free Matrices 257
16.2 The Free Log-Normal 261
16.3 A Multiplicative Dyson Brownian Motion 262
16.4 The Matrix Kesten Problem 264
17 Sample Covariance Matrices 267
17.1 Spatial Correlations 267
17.2 Temporal Correlations 271
17.3 Time Dependent Variance 276
17.4 Empirical Cross-Covariance Matrices 278
18 Bayesian Estimation 281
18.1 Bayesian Estimation 281
18.2 Estimating a Vector: Ridge and LASSO 288
18.3 Bayesian Estimation of the True Covariance Matrix 295
19 Eigenvector Overlaps and Rotationally Invariant Estimators 297
19.1 Eigenvector Overlaps 297
19.2 Rotationally Invariant Estimators 301
19.3 Properties of the Optimal RIE for Covariance Matrices 309
19.4 Conditional Average in Free Probability 310
19.5 Real Data 311
19.6 Validation and RIE 317
20 Applications to Finance 321
20.1 Portfolio Theory 321
20.2 The High-Dimensional Limit 325
20.3 The Statistics of Price Changes: A Short Overview 330
20.4 Empirical Covariance Matrices 334

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viii Contents

Appendix Mathematical Tools 339

A.1 Saddle Point Method 339
A.2 Tricomi’s Formula 341
A.3 Toeplitz and Circulant Matrices 343

Index 347

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Marc Potters , Jean-Philippe Bouchaud
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Preface

Physicists have always approached the world through data and models inspired by this
data. They build models from data and confront their models with the data generated by
new experiments or observations. But real data is by nature noisy; until recently, classical
statistical tools have been successful in dealing with this randomness. The recent emergence
of very large datasets, together with the computing power to analyze them, has created a
situation where not only the number of data points is large but also the number of studied
variables. Classical statistical tools are inadequate to tackle this situation, called the large
dimension limit (or the Kolmogorov limit). Random matrix theory, and in particular the
study of large sample covariance matrices, can help make sense of these big datasets, and
is in fact also becoming a useful tool to understand deep learning. Random matrix theory
is also linked to many modern problems in statistical physics such as the spectral theory of
random graphs, interaction matrices of spin-glasses, non-intersecting random walks, many-
body localization, compressed sensing and many more.
This book can be considered as one more book on random matrix theory. But our aim
was to keep it purposely introductory and informal. As an analogy, high school seniors
and college freshmen are typically taught both calculus and analysis. In analysis one learns
how to make rigorous proofs, define a limit and a derivative. At the same time in calculus
one can learn about computing complicated derivatives, multi-dimensional integrals and
solving differential equations relying only on intuitive definitions (with precise rules) of
these concepts. This book proposes a “calculus” course for random matrices, based in
particular on the relatively new concept of “freeness”, that generalizes the standard concept
of probabilistic independence to non-commuting random variables.
Rather than make statements about the most general case, concepts are defined with
some strong hypothesis (e.g. Gaussian entries, real symmetric matrices) in order to simplify
the computations and favor understanding. Precise notions of norm, topology, convergence,
exact domain of application are left out, again to favor intuition over rigor. There are many
good, mathematically rigorous books on the subject (see references below) and the hope is
that our book will allow the interested reader to read them guided by his/her newly built
intuition.

ix

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x Preface

Readership
The book was initially conceived as a textbook for a graduate level standard 30 hours course
in random matrix theory, for physicists or applied mathematicians, given by one of us (MP)
during a sabbatical at UCLA in 2017–2018. As the book evolved many new developments,
special topics and applications have been included. Lecturers can then customize their
course offering by complementing the first few essential chapters with their own choice
of chapters or sections from the rest of the book.
Another group of potential readers are seasoned researchers analyzing large datasets
who have heard that random matrix theory may help them distinguish signal from noise
in singular value decompositions or eigenvalues of sample covariance matrices. They have
heard of the Marčenko–Pastur distribution but do not know how to extend it to more real-
istic settings where they might have non-Gaussian noise, true outliers, temporal (sample)
correlations, etc. They need formulas to compute null hypothesis and so forth. They want
to understand where these formulas come from intuitively without requiring full precise
mathematical proofs.
The reader is assumed to have a background in undergraduate mathematics taught in
science and engineering: linear algebra, complex variables and probability theory. Impor-
tant results from probability theory are recalled in the book (addition of independent vari-
ables, law of large numbers and central limit theorem, etc.) while stochastic calculus and
Bayesian estimation are not assumed to be known. Familiarity with physics approximation
techniques (Taylor expansions, saddle point approximations) is helpful.

How to Read This Book

We have tried to make the book accessible for readers of different levels of expertise. The
bulk of the text is hopefully readable by graduate students, with most calculations laid
out in detail. We provide exercises in most chapters, which should allow the reader to
check that he or she has understood the main concepts. We also tried to illustrate the book
with as many figures as possible, because we strongly believe (as physicists) that pictures
considerably help forming an intuition about the issue at stake.
More technical issues, directed at experts in rmt or statistical physics, are signaled by
the use of a different, smaller font and an extra margin space. Chapters 3, 6, 7 and 13
are marked with a star, meaning that they are not essential for beginners and they can be
skipped at first reading.
At the end of each chapter, we give a non-exhaustive list of references, some general and
others more technical and specialized, which direct the reader to more in-depth information
related to the subject treated in the chapter.

Other Books on Related Subjects

Books for Mathematicians
There are many good recent books on random matrix theory and free probabilities written
by and for mathematicians: Blower [2009], Anderson et al. [2010], Bai and Silverstein

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Preface xi

[2010], Pastur and Scherbina [2010], Tao [2012], Erdős and Yau [2017], Mingo and
Speicher [2017]. These books are often too technical for the intended readership of the
present book. We nevertheless rely on these books to extract some relevant material for our
purpose.

Books for Engineers

Communications engineers and now financial engineers have become big users of random
matrix theory and there are at least two books specifically geared towards them. The style
of engineering books is closer to the style of the present book and these books are quite
readable for a physics audience.
There is the short book by Tulino and Verdú [2004]; it gets straight to the point and gives
many useful formulas from free probabilities to compute the spectrum of random matrices.
The first part of this book covers some of the topics covered here, but many other subjects
more related to statistical physics and to financial applications are absent.
Part I of Couillet and Debbah [2011] has a greater overlap with the present book. Again
about half the topics covered here are not present in that book (e.g. Dyson Brownian
motion, replica trick, low-rank hciz and the estimation of covariance matrices).

Books for Physicists

Physicists interested in random matrix theory fall into two broad categories:
Mathematical physicists and high-energy physicists use it to study fundamental quan-
tum interactions, from Wigner’s distribution of nuclear energy level spacing to models of
quantum gravity using matrix models of triangulated surfaces.
Statistical physicists encounter random matrices in the interaction matrices of spin-
glasses, in the study of non-intersecting random walks, in the spectral analysis of large
random graphs, in the theory of Anderson localization and many-body localization, and
finally in the study of sample covariance matrices from large datasets. This book focuses
primarily on statistical physics and data analysis applications.
The classical book by Mehta [2004] is at the crossroads of these different approaches,
whereas Forrester [2010], Brézin and Hikami [2016] and Eynard et al. [2006] are examples
of books written by mathematical physicists. Livan et al. [2018] is an introductory book
geared towards statistical physicists. That book is very similar in spirit to ours. The topics
covered do not overlap entirely; for example Livan et al. do not cover the Dyson Brownian
motion, the hciz integral, the problem of eigenvector overlaps, sample covariance matrices
with general true covariance, free multiplication, etc.
We should also mention the handbook by Akemann et al. [2011] and the Les Houches
summer school proceedings [Schehr et al., 2017], in which we co-authored a chapter on
financial applications of rmt. That book covers a very wide range of topics. It is a useful
complement to this book but too advanced for most of the intended readers.
Finally, the present book has some overlap with a review article written with Joel Bun
[Bun et al., 2017].

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xii Preface

Acknowledgments
The two of us want to warmly thank the research team at CFM with whom we have had
many illuminating discussions on these topics over the years, and in particular Jean-Yves
Audibert, Florent Benaych-Georges, Raphael Bénichou, Rémy Chicheportiche, Stefano
Ciliberti, Sungmin Hwang, Vipin Kerala Varma, Laurent Laloux, Eric Lebigot, Thomas
Madaule, Iacopo Mastromatteo, Pierre-Alain Reigneron, Adam Rej, Jacopo Rocchi,
Emmanuel Sérié, Konstantin Tikhonov, Bence Toth and Dario Vallamaina.
We also want to thank our academic colleagues for numerous, very instructive inter-
actions, collaborations and comments, including Gerard Ben Arous, Michael Benzaquen,
Giulio Biroli, Edouard Brézin, Zdzisław Burda, Benoı̂t Collins, David Dean, Bertrand
Eynard, Yan Fyodorov, Thomas Guhr, Alice Guionnet, Antti Knowles, Reimer Kuehn,
Pierre Le Doussal, Fabrizio Lillo, Satya Majumdar, Marc Mézard, Giorgio Parisi, Sandrine
Péché, Marco Tarzia, Matthieu Wyart, Francesco Zamponi and Tony Zee.
We want to thank some of our students and post-docs for their invaluable contribution
to some of the topics covered in this book, in particular Romain Allez, Joel Bun, Tristan
Gautié and Pierre Mergny. We also thank Pierre-Philippe Crépin, Théo Dessertaine, Tristan
Gautié, Armine Karami and José Moran for carefully reading the manuscript.
Finally, Marc Potters wants to thank Fan Yang, who typed up the original hand-written
notes. He also wants to thank Andrea Bertozzi, Stanley Osher and Terrence Tao, who
welcomed him for a year at UCLA. During that year he had many fruitful discussions with
members and visitors of the UCLA mathematics department and with participants of the
IPAM long program in quantitative linear algebra, including Alice Guionnet, Horng-Tzer
Yau, Jun Yin and more particularly with Nicholas Cook, David Jekel, Dimitri Shlyakhtenko
and Nikhil Srivastava.

Bibliographical Notes
Here is a list of books on random matrix theory that we have found useful.
• Books for mathematicians
– G. Blower. Random Matrices: High Dimensional Phenomena. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, 2009,
– G. W. Anderson, A. Guionnet, and O. Zeitouni. An Introduction to Random Matrices.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010,
– Z. Bai and J. W. Silverstein. Spectral Analysis of Large Dimensional Random Matri-
ces. Springer-Verlag, New York, 2010,
– L. Pastur and M. Scherbina. Eigenvalue Distribution of Large Random Matrices.
American Mathematical Society, Providence, Rhode Island, 2010,
– T. Tao. Topics in Random Matrix Theory. American Mathematical Society, Provi-
dence, Rhode Island, 2012,
– L. Erdős and H.-T. Yau. A Dynamical Approach to Random Matrix Theory. American
Mathematical Society, Providence, Rhode Island, 2017,

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Preface xiii

– J. A. Mingo and R. Speicher. Free Probability and Random Matrices. Springer, New
York, 2017.
• Books for physicists and mathematical physicists
– M. L. Mehta. Random Matrices. Academic Press, San Diego, 3rd edition, 2004,
– B. Eynard, T. Kimura, and S. Ribault. Random matrices. preprint arXiv:1510.04430,
2006,
– P. J. Forrester. Log Gases and Random Matrices. Princeton University Press,
Princeton, NJ, 2010,
– G. Akemann, J. Baik, and P. D. Francesco. The Oxford Handbook of Random Matrix
Theory. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011,
– E. Brézin and S. Hikami. Random Matrix Theory with an External Source. Springer,
New York, 2016,
– G. Schehr, A. Altland, Y. V. Fyodorov, N. O’Connell, and L. F. Cugliandolo, editors.
Stochastic Processes and Random Matrices, Les Houches Summer School, 2017.
Oxford University Press, Oxford,
– G. Livan, M. Novaes, and P. Vivo. Introduction to Random Matrices: Theory and
Practice. Springer, New York, 2018.
• More “applied” books
– A. M. Tulino and S. Verdú. Random Matrix Theory and Wireless Communications.
Now publishers, Hanover, Mass., 2004,
– R. Couillet and M. Debbah. Random Matrix Methods for Wireless Communications.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011.
• Our own review paper on the subject, with significant overlap with this book
– J. Bun, J.-P. Bouchaud, and M. Potters. Cleaning large correlation matrices: Tools
from random matrix theory. Physics Reports, 666:1–109, 2017.

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Symbols

Abbreviations
bbp: Baik, Ben Arous, Péché
cdf: Cumulative Distribution Function
clt: Central Limit Theorem
dbm: Dyson Brownian Motion
ema: Exponential Moving Average
fid: Free Identically Distributed
goe: Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble
gse: Gaussian Symplectic Ensemble
gue: Gaussian Unitary Ensemble
hciz: Harish-Chandra–Itzykson–Zuber
iid: Independent Identically Distributed
lln: Law of Large Numbers
map: Maximum A Posteriori
mave: Mean Absolute Value
mmse: Minimum Mean Square Error
pca: Principal Component Analysis
pde: Partial Differential Equation
pdf: Probability Distribution Function
rie: Rotationally Invariant Estimator
rmt: Random Matrix Theory
scm: Sample Covariance Matrix
sde: Stochastic Differential Equation
svd: Singular Value Decomposition

Conventions
0+ : infinitesimal positive quantity
1: identity matrix

xiv

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List of Symbols xv

∼: scales as, of the order of, also, for random variables, drawn from
≈: approximately equal to (mathematically or numerically)
∝: proportional to
:= : equal by definition to
≡: identically equal to
+: free sum
×: free product
E[.]: mathematical expectation
V[.]: mathematical variance
.: empirical average
[x]: dimension of x
√
i: −1
Re: real part
Im: imaginary part

−: principal value integral
±√
·: special square root, Eq. (4.56)
AT : matrix transpose
supp(ρ): domain where ρ(·) is non-zero
Note: most of the time f (t) means that t is a continuous variable, and ft means that t is
discrete.

Roman Symbols
A: generic constant, or generic free variable
A: generic matrix
a: generic coefficient, as in the gamma distribution, Eq. (4.17), or in the free
log-normal, Eq. (16.15)
B: generic free variable
B: generic matrix
b: generic coefficient, as in the gamma distribution, Eq. (4.17), or in the free
log-normal, Eq. (16.15)
C: generic coefficient
Ck : Catalan numbers
C: often population, or “true” covariance matrix, sometimes C = A + B
C: total investable capital or cross-covariance matrix
ck : cumulant of order k
d: distance between eigenvalues
dB: Wiener noise
E: sample, or empirical matrix; matrix corrupted by noise
E: error √
e: normalized vector of 1’s e = (1,1, . . . ,1)T / N

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xvi List of Symbols

e1 : unit vector in the first direction e1 = (1,0, . . . ,0)T

F: free energy
F (·): generic function
Fβ (·): Tracy–Widom distributions
FK (·, · , · ·): K-point correlation function of eigenvalues
F: dual of the sample covariance matrix, see Section 4.1.1
F(x): force field
F: generalized force in the Fokker–Planck equation
Fn : replica free energy
f (·): generic function
G(·): resolvent matrix
G: return target of a portfolio
gN (·): normalized trace of the resolvent
g: vector of expected gains
g(·): generic Stieltjes transform
gA (·): Stieltjes transform of the spectrum of A
gX (·): Stieltjes transform of a Wigner matrix
H: rectangular N × T matrix with random entries
H (·): log of the generating function of a random variable, H (k) := log E[eikX ]
HX (·): log of the generating function (rank-1 hciz) of a random matrix
Ĥ : annealed version of HX (t)
Hn : Hermite polynomial (probabilists’ convention)
H: Hamiltonian of a spin system
h: auxiliary function
h(·): real part of the Stieltjes transform on the real axis (equal to the Hilbert
transform times π )
I: generic integral
I (A,B): hciz integral
It (A): hciz integral when B is of rank-1 with eigenvalue t
I: interval
i,j,k,ℓ: generic integer indices
J: Jacobi matrices, or interaction matrix in spin-glasses
K: number of terms in a sum or a product, or number of blocks in a cross-
validation experiment
K(·): kernel
Kη (·): Cauchy kernel, of width η
K: Toeplitz matrix
L: length of an interval containing eigenvalues
(α)
Ln : generalized Laguerre polynomial
C,β
Lμ : Lévy stable laws
L: lower triangular matrix

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List of Symbols xvii

L: log-likelihood
M: generic matrix
W
p: inverse-Wishart matrix with coefficient p
mk : moment of order k
N: size of the matrix, number of variables
N(μ,σ 2 ): Gaussian distribution with mean μ and variance σ 2
N(µ,C): multivariate Gaussian distribution with mean µ and covariance C
n: number of eigenvalues in some interval, or number of replicas
O(N): orthogonal group in N dimensions
O: generic orthogonal matrix
P (·): generic probability distribution function defined by its argument: P (x) is
a short-hand for the probability density of variable x
Pγ (·): gamma distribution
P> (·): complementary cumulative distribution function
P0 (·): prior distribution in a Bayesian framework
Pi (t): probability to be in state i at time t
Pn : Legendre polynomial
P (x|y): conditional distribution of x knowing y
(a,b)
Pn : Jacobi polynomial
P: rank-1 (projector) matrix
P[X]: probability of event X
p: variance of the inverse-Wishart distribution, or quantile value
p(x): generic polynomial of x
p(A): generic matrix polynomial of A
pN (·): generic monic orthogonal polynomial
p(y,t|x): propagator of Brownian motion, with initial position x at t = 0
Q(·): generic polynomial
QN (·): (expected) characteristic polynomial
q: ratio of size of matrix N to size of sample T : q = N/T
q ∗: effective size ratio q ∗ = N/T ∗
q(A): generic matrix polynomial of A
qN (·): normalized characteristic polynomial
R: circle radius
RA (·): R-transform of the spectrum of A
R: portfolio risk, or error
r: signal-to-noise ratio; also an auxiliary variable in the spin-glass section
ri,t : return of asset i at time t
SA (·): S-transform of the spectrum of A
S: diagonal matrix of singular values
s: generic singular value
T: size of the sample

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Marc Potters , Jean-Philippe Bouchaud
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xviii List of Symbols

T ∗: effective size of the sample, accounting for correlations

Tn : Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind
T: matrix T-transform
tA (·): T-transform of the spectrum of A
U (N): unitary group in N dimensions
Un : Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind
U: generic rotation matrix defining an eigenbasis
u: eigenvector (often of the population matrix E)
V (·): generic potential
V: generic rotation matrix defining an eigenbasis
V: generalized potential, or variogram
v(x,t): velocity field in Matytsin’s formalism
v: eigenvector (often of the sample matrix C)
W (·): Fokker–Planck auxiliary function
Wn (π,σ ): Wiengarten coefficient
W: white Wishart matrix, sometimes generic multiplicative noise matrix
Wq : white Wishart matrix of parameter q
w: generic weight
X: Wigner matrix, sometimes generic additive noise matrix
x: generic variable
x: generic vector
x̂: estimator of x
yk : data points
y: generic vector
Z: normalization, or partition function
Zn : Kesten variable
z: generic complex variable
z(·): functional inverse of the Stieltjes function g(·)

Greek Symbols
α: generic scale factor
β: effective inverse “temperature” for the Coulomb gas, defining the symmetry
class of the matrix ensemble (β = 1 for orthogonal, β = 2 for unitary,
β = 4 for symplectic)
βi : exposure of asset i to the common (market) factor
β: vector of βi ’s
Ŵ: gamma function
ŴN : multivariate gamma function
γ: generic parameter or generic quantity
γc : inverse correlation time

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Marc Potters , Jean-Philippe Bouchaud
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List of Symbols xix

: Jacobian matrix, or discrete Laplacian


(x): Vandermonde determinant := i<j (xj − xi )
δ: small increment or small distance
δ(·): Dirac δ-function
ǫ: generic small quantity ǫ ≪ 1
ǫi : deviation of eigenvalue i from its most likely position
ε: generic iid noise
ζ: ridge regression parameter
ζ (·): inverse of the T-function t(·)
η: small quantity, 1/N ≪ η ≪ 1
θ: edge exponent
θ,θkℓ : angle and generalized angles
(·): Heaviside function, (x < 0) = 0, (x > 0) = 1
κk : free cumulant of order k
: diagonal matrix
λ: eigenvalue, often those of the sample (or “empirical”) matrix
λ1 : largest eigenvalue of a given matrix
λ+ : upper edge of spectrum
λ− : lower edge of spectrum
μ: eigenvalue, often those of the population (or “true”) matrix
π: portfolio weights, or partition
N (·): auxiliary polynomial
(·): limit polynomial
(x,t): pressure field in Matytsin’s formalism
: Rotationally Invariant Estimator (rie)
ξi : rie eigenvalues
ξ(·): rie shrinkage function
ρ: correlation coefficient
ρ(·): eigenvalue distribution
ρ(x,t): density field in Matytsin’s formalism
̺: square overlap between two vectors
σ: volatility, or root-mean-square
τ (·): normalized trace 1/N Tr(·), or free expectation operator
τR (·): normalized trace, further averaged over rotation matrices appearing inside
the trace operator
τ: time lag
τc : correlation time
ϒ: volume in matrix space
(·): auxiliary function
(λ,μ): scaled squared overlap between the eigenvectors of the sample (λ) and
population (μ) matrices

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Marc Potters , Jean-Philippe Bouchaud
Frontmatter
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xx List of Symbols

φ: angle
φ(·): effective two-body potential in Matytsin’s formalism
ϕ(·): generating function, or Fourier transform of a probability distribution
(λ,λ′ ): scaled squared overlap between the eigenvectors of two sample matrices
(·),ψ(·): auxiliary functions
ψ: auxiliary integration vector
: generic rotation matrix
ω(·): generic eigenvalue field in a large deviation formalism (cf. Section 5.5)

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