A Walk From Free Probability to Matrix Discrepancy I: Matrix Spencer

Abstract

The Matrix Spencer conjecture asks whether any $n$ real symmetric matrices A_1,...,A_n \in \mathbb{R}^{m \times m} of operator norm at most one admit a signing $x\in\{-1,1\}^n$ such that the operator norm of the signed sum is at most O(\sqrt{n \log(2m/n)}) We give a randomized algorithm establishing this bound with polynomial runtime in the real-arithmetic model. We first prove the $O(\sqrt n)$ bound for $m\le n$, resolving the square case, and then obtain the rectangular bound by changing the regularizer. As in earlier algorithmic discrepancy methods \cite{lovettmeka2012,bansalLaddhaVempala2022,pesentivladu2026}, we run a covariance-controlled random walk from the origin of the hypercube, rounding coordinates near its faces and keeping them fixed. Our potential measures a soft spectral edge of the evolving discrepancy matrix perturbed by an operator-valued free semicircular element. Inspired by the free interpolation approach of \cite{bbvh2023}, we combine Lehner's variational formula for the free edge \cite{lehner1999} with spectral Tsallis regularization \cite{allenZhuLiaoOrecchia2015,pesentivladu2026}. This puts the discrepancy and remaining covariance in a single smooth optimization problem. The potential has a finite-dimensional semidefinite formulation. Stability of its optimizer, governed by equations related to the matrix Dyson equation \cite{erdos2019}, lets us find a large subspace in which to move while controlling discrepancy. The square case uses the Tsallis--$1/2$ regularizer; the rectangular case uses a suitable generalized Tsallis power regularizer. Our companion paper \cite{kathuria2026ks} applies these ideas to give an algorithmic proof of Weaver's discrepancy theorem, whose existence proof by [MSS15] resolved the Kadison--Singer conjecture \cite{mss2015}.Lean formalizations of our main discrepancy theorems have been completed and will be released shortly.