Discrete gap probabilities and discrete Painleve equations

Abstract

We prove that Fredholm determinants of the form det(1-K_s), where K_s is the restriction of either the discrete Bessel kernel or the discrete {}_2F_1 kernel to {s,s+1,...}, can be expressed through solutions of discrete Painleve II and V equations, respectively. These Fredholm determinants can also be viewed as distribution functions of the first part of the random partitions distributed according to a poissonized Plancherel measure and a z-measure, or as normalized Toeplitz determinants with symbols exp(\eta(u+1/u)) and (1+u)^z(1+\xi/u)^{z'}. The proofs are based on a general formalism involving discrete integrable operators and discrete Riemann-Hilbert problem. A continuous version of the formalism has been worked out in math-ph/0111007.