On the concavity of the TAP free energy in the SK model

Abstract

We analyze the Hessian of the Thouless–Anderson–Palmer (TAP) free energy for the Sherrington–Kirkpatrick model, below the de Almeida–Thouless line, evaluated in Bolthausen’s approximate solutions of the TAP equations. We show that the empirical spectral distribution weakly converges to a measure with negative support below the AT line, and that the support includes zero on the AT line. In this “macroscopic” sense, we show that TAP free energy is concave in the order parameter of the theory, i.e. the random spin-magnetizations. This proves a spectral interpretation of the AT line. We also find different magnetizations than Bolthausen’s approximate solutions at which the Hessian of the TAP free energy has positive outlier eigenvalues. In particular, when the magnetizations are assumed to be independent of the disorder, we prove that Plefka’s second condition is equivalent to all eigenvalues being negative. On this occasion, we extend the convergence result of Capitaine et al. (Electron. J. Probab. 16, no. 64, 2011) for the largest eigenvalue of perturbed complex Wigner matrices to the GOE.