Intersection numbers of Riemann surfaces from Gaussian matrix models

Abstract

We consider a Gaussian random matrix theory in the presence of an external matrix source. This matrix model, after duality (a simple version of the closed/open string duality), yields a generalized Kontsevich model through an appropriate tuning of the external source. The n-point correlation functions of this theory are shown to provide the intersection numbers of the moduli space of curves with a p-spin structure, n marked points and top Chern class. This sheds some light on Witten's conjecture on the relationship with the pth-KdV equation.