Product matrix processes as limits of random plane partitions

Abstract

We consider a random process with discrete time formed by singular values of products of truncations of Haar distributed unitary matrices. We show that this process can be understood as a scaling limit of the Schur process, which gives determinantal formulas for (dynamical) correlation functions and a contour integral representation for the correlation kernel. The relation with the Schur processes implies that the continuous limit of marginals for q-distributed plane partitions coincides with the joint law of singular values for products of truncations of Haar-distributed random unitary matrices. We provide structural reasons for this coincidence that may also extend to other classes of random matrices.