

How Random Matrix theory sheds a light on the laws underlying reality. - AndrewDucker
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627550.200-enter-the-matrix-the-deep-law-that-shapes-our-reality.html?full=true

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Khaki
Seems to be an article filled with nothing but hype. It doesn't even define
what a random matrix is. I had to first check on Wikipedia to work out that
this theory 'probably' has something to do with Wigner's law and symmetric
matrices.

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zemaj
In defence of new scientist, their articles are designed to give the average
person an overview of the latest scientific research, without expecting pior
knowledge in the field. They're not for a technical audience wishing to apply
the ideas involved.

I find them really useful for staying up-to-date on a broad range of topics
from which I can jump into further research if I find them interesting.

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jerf
My objection is that if you run s/random matrix)/magic/g on that article, it
is not significantly degraded. I hate most arguments based on "rewriting the
original post", so let me be clear that my objection is that the actual
information content on the technique itself is not merely low, it is nearly
zero. I question the utility of writing an article like this when they clearly
don't expect the audience to have even a high-school understanding of
matrices. (I mean, the one bone they toss to "what is a matrix?" isn't even
_correct_ ; matrices aren't necessarily "square"! And again, I reiterate, this
is something learned in _high school_.)

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ctkrohn
Here's a paper on the applications of random matrix theory to finance:

<http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0910/0910.1205v1.pdf>

The first pages are a quick overview of the math behind random matrix theory,
if you're curious.

