Random Schrodinger operators on long boxes, noise explosion and the GOE

Abstract

It is conjectured that the eigenvalues of random Schrodinger operators at the localization transition in dimensions d>=2 behave like the eigenvalues of the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble (GOE). We show that there are sequences of n by m boxes with 1<<m<<n so that the eigenvalues in low disorder converge to Sine1, the limiting eigenvalue process of the GOE. For the GOE case, this is the first example where Wigner's famous prediction is proven rigorously: we exhibit a complex system whose eigenvalues behave like those of random matrices.