Let $x_1,\ldots,x_n$ be independent standard Gaussian vectors in $\mathbb{R}^d$. An \emph{ellipsoid fit} is a matrix $S \succeq 0$ such that $x_i^\top S x_i =d$ for every $i$, so that all the points lie on the boundary of the centered ellipsoid $\{ x : x^\top S x = d\}$. Saunderson, Parrilo and Willsky conjectured that, as $n,d \to \infty$, this semidefinite feasibility problem undergoes a sharp transition at $n \sim d^2/4$. We prove this conjecture. If $\lim \sup n/d^2 = \alpha^*<1/4$, then, with probability tending to one, an ellipsoid fit exists; moreover, one can choose $S$ with all eigenvalues in a fixed interval $[\lambda_- , \lambda_+] \subset (0,\infty)$ depending only on $\alpha^*$. Conversely, if $\lim \inf n/d^2>1/4$, then, with probability tending to one, no ellipsoid fit exists, without any spectral restriction. Our proof builds on the Gaussian-equivalence framework developed by Bandeira and Maillard (2025) and closes the two gaps left open in their work: establishing exact fitting and removing the operator-norm constraint. On the satisfiable side, the new ingredients are a head-tail decomposition of the dual vector, exact correction of the sparse head constraints, and a Gaussian comparison principle for the low-influence tail. On the unsatisfiable side, we split a candidate into a low-rank spectral head and a Schatten-3 diffuse bulk, Gaussianize the bulk conditionally on the head, and apply a projected Gordon escape argument. The threshold is governed by the statistical dimension $d(d+1)/4$ of the positive semidefinite cone.
We study a class of diffusion processes on $\mathbb{R}^n$ interacting through a symmetric matrix $X\in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n}$. When eigenvectors of $X$ are Haar-uniform on the orthogonal group, we derive a dynamical mean-field limit for the empirical law of sample paths, extending the classical Sompolinsky--Zippelius characterization for $X\sim\mathrm{GOE}$. The limit takes the form of a generalized Langevin equation with correlated Gaussian noise and memory, whose correlation and response kernels relate to those of the original dynamics through convolution equations involving the free cumulants of the eigenvalue distribution of $X$. For the overdamped Langevin diffusion associated with $\mu(\boldsymbol{\theta})\propto \exp\!\big(\frac12\boldsymbol{\theta}^{\top}X\boldsymbol{\theta}\big)\prod_{i=1}^n\nu(\mathrm{d}\theta_i)$, we analyze the mean-field limit under a rapid-mixing assumption. The correlation and response kernels admit time-translation-invariant approximants satisfying a fluctuation-dissipation relation. The generalized Langevin equation admits a Markovian approximation coupled to an auxiliary multivariate OU process and converges to a replica-symmetric prediction for the empirical coordinate law under $\mu$. This auxiliary correlation structure is characterized through the infinitesimal generator of a Markov semigroup for the lifted path-history process. Consequently, the free energy converges to a replica-symmetric limit under an explicit high-temperature condition, which for an Ising model is $\|X\|_{\mathrm{op}}<1/2$. By recent dynamical universality results, the same free-energy characterization holds for deterministic models without random disorder when $X$ satisfies a set of deterministic delocalization conditions.
Zhou Fan, Theodor Misiakiewicz, Leda Wang et al.· 0 citations
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