Numerical computation of convolutions in free probability theory

Sheehan Olver, Raj Rao Nadakuditi

Published 2012-03-08, updated 2013-07-19Version 2

We develop a numerical approach for computing the additive, multiplicative and compressive convolution operations from free probability theory. We utilize the regularity properties of free convolution to identify (pairs of) `admissible' measures whose convolution results in a so-called `invertible measure' which is either a smoothly-decaying measure supported on the entire real line (such as the Gaussian) or square-root decaying measure supported on a compact interval (such as the semi-circle). This class of measures is important because these measures along with their Cauchy transforms can be accurately represented via a Fourier or Chebyshev series expansion, respectively. Thus, knowledge of the functional inverse of their Cauchy transform suffices for numerically recovering the invertible measure via a non-standard yet well-behaved Vandermonde system of equations. We describe explicit algorithms for computing the inverse Cauchy transform alluded to and recovering the associated measure with spectral accuracy. Convergence is guaranteed under broad assumptions on the input measures.