PHASE DIAGRAM AND ORTHOGONAL POLYNOMIALS IN MULTIPLE-WELL MATRIX MODELS

Abstract

We investigate a zero-dimensional Hermitian one-matrix model in a triple-well potential. Its tree-level phase structure is analyzed semiclassically as well as in the framework of orthogonal polynomials. Some multiple-arc eigenvalue distributions in the first method correspond to quasiperiodic large-N behavior of recursion coefficients for the second. We further establish this connection between the two approaches by finding three-arc saddle points from orthogonal polynomials. The latter require a modification for nondegenerate potential minima; we propose weighing the average over potential wells.