Heidelberg 1999 – scientific programme

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MP: Theoretische und Mathematische Grundlagen der Physik

MP 13: Gravitational radiation, strings and random matrices                                 (joint session with T and GR)

MP 13.3: Invited Talk

Tuesday, March 16, 1999, 11:40–12:30, CH1

Random-matrix theories in quantum physics — •Hans Weidenmüller — Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Am Saupferchweg 3, 69126 Heidelberg

During the last decade, random-matrix theory underwent a rapid development and gained significance in a number of different fields of Physics. What are the aims of random-matrix theory? What its predictive power? In this talk, I try to answer both questions by invoking an analogy to classical equilibrium thermodynamics, and by presenting a systematic survey of random-matrix models, with applications to several very different physical problems.