Masters Degrees (Physics)

Permanent URI for this collection

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

Basic concepts of random matrix theory
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2005-12) Van Zyl, Alexis J.; Scholtz, Frederik G.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Science. Dept. of Physics.
It was Wigner that in the 1950’s first introduced the idea of modelling physical reality with an ensemble of random matrices while studying the energy levels of heavy atomic nuclei. Since then, the field of Random Matrix Theory has grown tremendously, with applications ranging from fluctuations on the economic markets to M-theory. It is the purpose of this thesis to discuss the basic concepts of Random Matrix Theory, using the ensembles of random matrices originally introduced by Wigner, the Gaussian ensembles, as a starting point. As Random Matrix Theory is classically concerned with the statistical properties of levels sequences, we start with a brief introduction to the statistical analysis of a level sequence before getting to the introduction of the Gaussian ensembles. With the ensembles defined, we move on to the statistical properties that they predict. In the light of these predictions, a few of the classical applications of Random Matrix Theory are discussed, and as an example of some of the important concepts, the Anderson model of localization is investigated in some detail.