A discrete log gas, discrete Toeplitz determinants with Fisher-Hartwig singularities, and Gaussian Multiplicative Chaos

Abstract

We consider a log-gas on a discretization of the unit circle. We prove that if the gas is not too dense, or the number of particles in the gas is not too large compared to the scale of the discretization, the absolute value of the characteristic polynomial can be described in terms of a Gaussian multiplicative chaos measure. This is done by analyzing discrete Toeplitz determinants with Fisher-Hartwig singularities. In particular, we prove that if the gas is not too dense, the classical Fisher-Hartwig conjecture holds for the discrete Toeplitz determinant as well. Our analysis suggests that if the gas is any denser than this, the formula needs to be modified.