Delocalization of eigenvectors of random matrices. Lecture notes

Mark Rudelson

Published 2017-07-26Version 1

Let $x \in S^{n-1}$ be a unit eigenvector of an $n \times n$ random matrix. This vector is delocalized if it is distributed roughly uniformly over the real or complex sphere. This intuitive notion can be quantified in various ways. In these lectures, we will concentrate on the no-gaps delocalization. This type of delocalization means that with high probability, any non-negligible subset of the support of $x$ carries a non-negligible mass. Proving the no-gaps delocalization requires establishing small ball probability bounds for the projections of random vector. Using Fourier transform, we will prove such bounds in a simpler case of a random vector having independent coordinates of a bounded density. This will allow us to derive the no-gaps delocalization for matrices with random entries having a bounded density. In the last section, we will discuss the applications of delocalization to the spectral properties of Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi random graphs.