Random matrix theory is a powerful tool for prediction in analytic number theory. Through this random matrix analogy, Fyodorov, Hiary and Keating conjectured very precisely the typical values of the Riemann zeta function in short intervals of the critical line, in particular their maximum. Their prediction relied on techniques from statistical mechanics such as the replica method, giving extreme values in disordered systems. Recent rigorous progress has exploited underlying branching structures instead, both for random characteristic polynomials and L-functions.
This is the second part of two talks, the first of which may be found here.
This video is part of Harvard University‘s conference Current Developments in Mathematics 2023.
