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We show that the $n$-point, genus-$g$ correlation functions of topological recursion on any regular spectral curve with simple ramifications grow at most like $(2g - 2 + n)!$ as $g \rightarrow \infty$, which is the expected growth rate. This provides, in particular, an upper bound for many curve counting problems in large genus and serves as a preliminary step for a resurgence analysis., Comment: 33 pages. Comments are welcome! v2: added references

We define F-topological recursion (F-TR) as a non-symmetric version of topological recursion, which associates a vector potential to some initial data. We describe the symmetries of the initial data for F-TR and show that, at the level of the vector potential, they include the F-Givental (non-linear) symmetries studied by Arsie, Buryak, Lorenzoni, and Rossi within the framework of F-manifolds. Additionally, we propose a spectral curve formulation of F-topological recursion. This allows us to extend the correspondence between semisimple cohomological field theories (CohFTs) and topological recursion, as established by Dunin-Barkowski, Orantin, Shadrin, and Spitz, to the F-world. In the absence of a full reconstruction theorem \`a la Teleman for F-CohFTs, this demonstrates that F-TR holds for the ancestor vector potential of a given F-CohFT if and only if it holds for some F-CohFT in its F-Givental orbit. We turn this into a useful statement by showing that the correlation functions of F-topological field theories (F-CohFTs of cohomological degree 0) are governed by F-TR. We apply these results to the extended 2-spin F-CohFT. Furthermore, we exhibit a large set of linear symmetries of F-CohFTs, which do not commute with the F-Givental action., Comment: 50 pages; v2: Theorem 4.6 fixed

We upgrade the results of Borot--Bouchard--Chidambaram--Creutzig to show that the Gaiotto vector in $\mathcal{N} = 2$ pure supersymmetric gauge theory admits an analytic continuation with respect to the energy scale (which can therefore be taken to be finite, instead of infinitesimal), and is computed by topological recursion on the (ramified) UV or Gaiotto spectral curve. This has a number of interesting consequences for the Gaiotto vector: relations to intersection theory on $\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{g,n}$ in at least two different ways, Hurwitz numbers, quantum curves, and (almost complete) description of the correlators as analytic functions of $\hbar$ (instead of formal series). The same method is used to establish analogous results for the more general Whittaker vector constructed in the recent work of Chidambaram--Dolega--Osuga., Comment: 58 pages, 1 figure

The general relation between Chekhov-Eynard-Orantin topological recursion and the intersection theory on the moduli space of curves, the deformation techniques in topological recursion, and the polynomiality properties with respect to deformation parameters can be combined to derive vanishing relations involving intersection indices of tautological classes. We apply this strategy to three different families of spectral curves and show they give vanishing relations for integrals involving $\Omega$-classes. The first class of vanishing relations are genus-independent and generalises the vanishings found by Johnson-Pandharipande-Tseng, and by the authors jointly with Do and Moskovsky. The two other classes of vanishing relations are of a different nature and depend on the genus., Comment: 30 pages

We establish identities of Pfaffian type for the theta function associated with twice or half the period matrix of a hyperelliptic curve. They are implied by the large size asymptotic analysis of exact Pfaffian identities for expectation values of ratios of characteristic polynomials in ensembles of orthogonal or quaternionic self-dual random matrices. We show that they amount to identities for the theta function with the period matrix of a hyperelliptic curve, and in this form we reprove them by direct geometric methods.

When does topological recursion applied to a family of spectral curves commute with taking limits? This problem is subtle, especially when the ramification structure of the spectral curve changes at the limit point. We provide sufficient (straightforward-to-use) conditions for checking when the commutation with limits holds, thereby closing a gap in the literature where this compatibility has been used several times without justification. This takes the form of a stronger result of analyticity of the topological recursion along suitable families. To tackle this question, we formalise the notion of global topological recursion and provide sufficient conditions for its equivalence with local topological recursion. The global version facilitates the study of analyticity and limits. For nondegenerate algebraic curves, we reformulate these conditions purely in terms of the structure of its underlying singularities. Finally, we apply this to study deformations of $ (r,s) $-spectral curves, spectral curves for weighted Hurwitz numbers, and provide several other examples and non-examples (where the commutation with limits fails)., Comment: 83 pages, 12 figures

We exhibit the Kontsevich matrix model with arbitrary potential as a BKP tau-function with respect to polynomial deformations of the potential. The result can be equivalently formulated in terms of Cartan-Pl\"ucker relations of certain averages of Schur $Q$-function. The extension of a Pfaffian integration identity of de Bruijn to singular kernels is instrumental in the derivation of the result.

On 26 September 2022 the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, a satellite of the asteroid 65803 Didymos. Because it is a binary system, it is possible to determine how much the orbit of the satellite changed, as part of a test of what is necessary to deflect an asteroid that might threaten Earth with an impact. In nominal cases, pre-impact predictions of the orbital period reduction ranged from ~8.8 - 17.2 minutes. Here we report optical observations of Dimorphos before, during and after the impact, from a network of citizen science telescopes across the world. We find a maximum brightening of 2.29 $\pm$ 0.14 mag upon impact. Didymos fades back to its pre-impact brightness over the course of 23.7 $\pm$ 0.7 days. We estimate lower limits on the mass contained in the ejecta, which was 0.3 - 0.5% Dimorphos' mass depending on the dust size. We also observe a reddening of the ejecta upon impact., Comment: Accepted by Nature

We establish the functional relations between generating series of higher-order free cumulants and moments in higher-order free probability, solving an open problem posed fifteen years ago by Collins, Mingo, \'Sniady and Speicher. We propose an extension of free probability theory, which governs the all-order topological expansion in unitarily invariant matrix ensembles, with a corresponding notion of free cumulants and give as well their relation to moments via functional relations. Our approach is based on the study of a master transformation involving double monotone Hurwitz numbers via semi-infinite wedge techniques, building on the recent advances of the last-named author with Bychkov, Dunin-Barkowski and Kazarian. We illustrate our formulas by computing the first few decaying terms of the correlation functions of an ensemble of spiked GUE matrices, going beyond the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem., Comment: 59 pages

The volume $\mathscr{B}_{\Sigma}^{{\rm comb}}(\mathbb{G})$ of the unit ball -- with respect to the combinatorial length function $\ell_{\mathbb{G}}$ -- of the space of measured foliations on a stable bordered surface $\Sigma$ appears as the prefactor of the polynomial growth of the number of multicurves on $\Sigma$. We find the range of $s \in \mathbb{R}$ for which $(\mathscr{B}_{\Sigma}^{{\rm comb}})^{s}$, as a function over the combinatorial moduli spaces, is integrable with respect to the Kontsevich measure. The results depends on the topology of $\Sigma$, in contrast with the situation for hyperbolic surfaces where Arana-Herrera and Athreya (arXiv:1907.06287) recently proved an optimal square-integrability., Comment: 37 pages, 2 appendices. v2: typos corrected, pictures added, and explanations added in various places

The investigation of spatio-temporal couplings (STCs) of broadband light beams is becoming a key topic for the optimization as well as applications of ultrashort laser systems. This calls for accurate measurements of STCs. Yet, it is only recently that such complete spatio-temporal or spatio-spectral characterization has become possible, and it has so far mostly been implemented at the output of the laser systems, where experiments take place. In this survey, we present for the first time STC measurements at different stages of a collection of high-power ultrashort laser systems, all based on the chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) technique, but with very different output characteristics. This measurement campaign reveals spatio-temporal effects with various sources, and motivates the expanded use of STC characterization throughout CPA laser chains, as well as in a wider range of types of ultrafast laser systems. In this way knowledge will be gained not only about potential defects, but also about the fundamental dynamics and operating regimes of advanced ultrashort laser systems.

Ordinary maps satisfy topological recursion for a certain spectral curve $(x, y)$. We solve a conjecture from arXiv:1710.07851 that claims that fully simple maps, which are maps with non self-intersecting disjoint boundaries, satisfy topological recursion for the exchanged spectral curve $(y, x)$, making use of the topological recursion for ciliated maps arXiv:2105.08035., Comment: 22 pages

For bordered surfaces S, we develop a complete parallel between the geometry of the combinatorial Teichm\"uller space $T_S^{comb}$ equipped with Kontsevich symplectic form $\omega_K$, and then the usual Weil-Petersson geometry of Teichm\"uller space $T_S$. The basis for this is an identification of $T_S^{comb}$ with a space of measured foliations with transverse boundary conditions. We equip $T_S^{comb}$ with an analog of the Fenchel-Nielsen coordinates (defined similarly as Dehn-Thurston coordinates) and show they are Darboux for $\omega_K$ (analog of Wolpert formula). We then set up the geometric recursion of Andersen-Borot-Orantin to produce mapping class group invariants functions on $T_S^{comb}$ whose integration with respect to Kontsevich volume form satisfy topological recursion. Further we establish an analog of Mirzakhani-McShane identities, and provide applications to the study of the enumeration of multicurves with respect to combinatorial lengths and Masur-Veech volumes. The formalism allows us to provide uniform and completely geometric proofs of Witten's conjecture/Kontsevich theorem and Norbury's topological recursion for lattice point count in the combinatorial moduli space, parallel to Mirzakhani's proof of her recursion for Weil-Petersson volumes. We strengthen results of Mondello and Do on the convergence of hyperbolic geometry to combinatorial geometry along the rescaling flow, allowing us to flow systematically natural constructions on the usual Teichm\"uller space to their combinatorial analogue, such as a new derivation of the piecewise linear structure of $T_S^{comb}$ originally obtained in the work of Penner, as the limit under the flow of the smooth structure of $T_S$., Comment: 107 pages. v2: Section 1 explains better relations to previous works, in particular how Dehn-Thurston coordinates compare to Fenchel-Nielsen coordinates. The PL statement (Section 5) follows from Penner's 1982 PhD thesis, this article provides a different proof via the rescaling flow on Teichm\"uller (we added Remark 5.9 in that proof to take into account twisting numbers at the boundaries)

We give elements towards the classification of quantum Airy structures based on the $W(\mathfrak{gl}_r)$-algebras at self-dual level based on twisted modules of the Heisenberg VOA of $\mathfrak{gl}_r$ for twists by arbitrary elements of the Weyl group $\mathfrak{S}_{r}$. In particular, we construct a large class of such quantum Airy structures. We show that the system of linear ODEs forming the quantum Airy structure and determining uniquely its partition function is equivalent to a topological recursion \`a la Chekhov-Eynard-Orantin on singular spectral curves. In particular, our work extends the definition of the Bouchard-Eynard topological recursion (valid for smooth curves) to a large class of singular curves, and indicates impossibilities to extend naively the definition to other types of singularities. We also discuss relations to intersection theory on moduli spaces of curves, giving a general ELSV-type representation for the topological recursion amplitudes on smooth curves, and formulate precise conjectures for application in open $r$-spin intersection theory., Comment: 99 pages, 2 figures. v2.: added complete classification for genus zero invariants, Theorem 2.13, and more on intersection numbers in the regular case, sections 7.2.4, 7.5.4, & 7.5.5. Also numerous small corrections. v3.: Small corrections, most notably in section 8. Accepted to Annales de l'Institut Henri Poincar\'e D

Using a spectrally resolved electron interferometry technique, we measure photoionization time delays between the $3s$ and $3p$ subshells of argon over a large 34-eV energy range covering the Cooper minima in both subshells. The observed strong variations of the $3s-3p$ delay difference, including a sign change, are well reproduced by theoretical calculations using the Two-Photon Two-Color Random Phase Approximation with Exchange. Strong shake-up channels lead to photoelectrons spectrally overlapping with those emitted from the $3s$ subshell. These channels need to be included in our analysis to reproduce the experimental data. Our measurements provide a stringent test for multielectronic theoretical models aiming at an accurate description of inter-channel correlation.

Double Hurwitz numbers enumerate branched covers of $\mathbb{CP}^1$ with prescribed ramification over two points and simple ramification elsewhere. In contrast to the single case, their underlying geometry is not well understood. In previous work by the second- and third-named authors, the double Hurwitz numbers were conjectured to satisfy a polynomiality structure and to be governed by the topological recursion, analogous to existing results concerning single Hurwitz numbers. In this paper, we resolve these conjectures by a careful analysis of the semi-infinite wedge representation for double Hurwitz numbers, by pushing further methods previously used for other Hurwitz problems. We deduce a preliminary version of an ELSV-like formula for double Hurwitz numbers, by deforming the Johnson-Pandharipande-Tseng formula for orbifold Hurwitz numbers and using properties of the topological recursion under variation of spectral curves. In the course of this analysis, we unveil certain vanishing properties of the Chiodo classes., Comment: 44 pages; v2: This version corrects the statements of Theorem 1.5 (ELSV-like formula) and Theorem 1.6 (vanishing), as well as adding new results on intersection numbers involving Chiodo classes

We describe a conjectural formula via intersection numbers for the Masur-Veech volumes of strata of quadratic differentials with prescribed zero orders, and we prove the formula for the case when the zero orders are odd. For the principal strata of quadratic differentials with simple zeros, the formula reduces to compute the top Segre class of the quadratic Hodge bundle, which can be further simplified to certain linear Hodge integrals. An appendix proves that the intersection of this class with $\psi$-classes can be computed by Eynard-Orantin topological recursion. As applications, we analyze numerical properties of Masur-Veech volumes, area Siegel-Veech constants and sums of Lyapunov exponents of the principal strata for fixed genus and varying number of zeros, which settles the corresponding conjectures due to Grivaux-Hubert, Fougeron, and elaborated in [the7]. We also describe conjectural formulas for area Siegel-Veech constants and sums of Lyapunov exponents for arbitrary affine invariant submanifolds, and verify them for the principal strata.

We study the Masur-Veech volumes $MV_{g,n}$ of the principal stratum of the moduli space of quadratic differentials of unit area on curves of genus $g$ with $n$ punctures. We show that the volumes $MV_{g,n}$ are the constant terms of a family of polynomials in $n$ variables governed by the topological recursion/Virasoro constraints. This is equivalent to a formula giving these polynomials as a sum over stable graphs, and retrieves a result of \cite{Delecroix} proved by combinatorial arguments. Our method is different: it relies on the geometric recursion and its application to statistics of hyperbolic lengths of multicurves developed in \cite{GRpaper}. We also obtain an expression of the area Siegel--Veech constants in terms of hyperbolic geometry. The topological recursion allows numerical computations of Masur--Veech volumes, and thus of area Siegel--Veech constants, for low $g$ and $n$, which leads us to propose conjectural formulas for low $g$ but all $n$. We also relate our polynomials to the asymptotic counting of square-tiled surfaces with large boundaries., Comment: 75 pages, v2: added a section on enumeration of square-tiled surfaces

We show that non-stationary Gromov-Witten invariants of $\mathbb{P}^1$ can be extracted from open periods of the Eynard-Orantin topological recursion correlators $\omega_{g,n}$ whose Laurent series expansion at $\infty$ compute the stationary invariants. To do so, we overcome the technical difficulties to global loop equations for the spectral $x(z) = z + 1/z$ and $y(z) = \ln z$ from the local loop equations satisfied by the $\omega_{g,n}$, and check these global loop equations are equivalent to the Virasoro constraints that are known to govern the full Gromov-Witten theory of $\mathbb{P}^1$., Comment: 27 pages, 1 figure

A direct relation between the enumeration of ordinary maps and that of fully simple maps first appeared in the work of the first and last authors. The relation is via monotone Hurwitz numbers and was originally proved using Weingarten calculus for matrix integrals. The goal of this paper is to present two independent proofs that are purely combinatorial and generalise in various directions, such as to the setting of stuffed maps and hypermaps. The main motivation to understand the relation between ordinary and fully simple maps is the fact that it could shed light on fundamental, yet still not well-understood, problems in free probability and topological recursion., Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures

The development of optical metrology suited to ultrafast lasers has played a key role in the progress of these light sources in the last few decades. Measurement techniques providing the complete $E$-field of ultrashort laser beams in both time and space are now being developed. Yet, they had so far not been applied to the most powerful ultrashort lasers, which reach the PetaWatt range by pushing the Chirped Pulse Amplification scheme to its present technical limits. This situation left doubts on their actual performance, and in particular on the peak intensity they can reach at focus. In this article we present the first complete spatio-temporal characterization of a PetaWatt femtosecond laser operating at full intensity, the BELLA laser, using two recently-developed independent measurement techniques. Our results demonstrate that, with adequate optimization, the CPA technique is still suitable at these extreme scales, i.e., it is not inherently limited by spatio-temporal couplings. We also show how these measurements provide unprecedented insight into the physics and operation regime of such laser systems., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

We define higher quantum Airy structures as generalizations of the Kontsevich-Soibelman quantum Airy structures by allowing differential operators of arbitrary order (instead of only quadratic). We construct many classes of examples of higher quantum Airy structures as modules of $\mathcal{W}(\mathfrak{g})$ algebras at self-dual level, with $\mathfrak{g}= \mathfrak{gl}_{N+1}$, $\mathfrak{so}_{2 N }$ or $\mathfrak{e}_N$. We discuss their enumerative geometric meaning in the context of (open and closed) intersection theory of the moduli space of curves and its variants. Some of these $\mathcal{W}$ constraints have already appeared in the literature, but we find many new ones. For $\mathfrak{gl}_{N+1}$ our result hinges on the description of previously unnoticed Lie subalgebras of the algebra of modes. As a consequence, we obtain a simple characterization of the spectral curves (with arbitrary ramification) for which the Bouchard-Eynard topological recursion gives symmetric $\omega_{g,n}$s and is thus well defined. For all such cases, we show that the topological recursion is equivalent to $\mathcal{W}(\mathfrak{gl})$ constraints realized as higher quantum Airy structures, and obtain a Givental-like decomposition for the corresponding partition functions., Comment: 93 pages, v4: references added, many typos corrected

We propose a general theory for constructing functorial assignments $\Sigma \longmapsto \Omega_{\Sigma} \in E(\Sigma)$ for a large class of functors $E$ from a certain category of bordered surfaces to a suitable target category of topological vector spaces. The construction proceeds by successive excisions of homotopy classes of embedded pairs of pants, and thus by induction on the Euler characteristic. We provide sufficient conditions to guarantee the infinite sums appearing in this construction converge. In particular, we can generate mapping class group invariant vectors $\Omega_{\Sigma} \in E(\Sigma)$. The initial data for the recursion encode the cases when $\Sigma$ is a pair of pants or a torus with one boundary, as well as the "recursion kernels" used for glueing. We give this construction the name of Geometric Recursion. As a first application, we demonstrate that our formalism produce a large class of measurable functions on the moduli space of bordered Riemann surfaces. Under certain conditions, the functions produced by the geometric recursion can be integrated with respect to the Weil--Petersson measure on moduli spaces with fixed boundary lengths, and we show that the integrals satisfy a topological recursion generalizing the one of Eynard and Orantin. We establish a generalization of Mirzakhani--McShane identities, namely that multiplicative statistics of hyperbolic lengths of multicurves can be computed by the geometric recursion. As a corollary, we show that the systole function can be obtained from the geometric recursion. The theory has however a wider scope than functions on Teichm\"uller space, which will be explored in subsequent papers; one expects that many functorial objects in low-dimensional geometry could be constructed by variants of this geometric recursion., Comment: 97 pages, 21 figures. v2: misprint corrected. v3: revised and abridged version, 66 pages: v4: added Section 1.3 + revision, 73 pages; v5: tiny modifications

These are lectures notes for a 4h30 mini-course held in Ulaanbaatar, National University of Mongolia, August 5-7th 2015, at the summer school "Stochastic Processes and Applications". It aims at presenting an introduction to basic results of random matrix theory and some of its motivations, targeted to a large panel of students coming from statistics, finance, etc. Only a small background in probability is required., Comment: 55 pages, 10 figures

We introduce the notion of fully simple maps, which are maps with non self-intersecting disjoint boundaries. In contrast, maps where such a restriction is not imposed are called ordinary. We study in detail the combinatorics of fully simple maps with topology of a disk or a cylinder. We show that the generating series of simple disks is given by the functional inversion of the generating series of ordinary disks. We also obtain an elegant formula for cylinders. These relations reproduce the relation between moments and free cumulants established by Collins et al. math.OA/0606431, and implement the symplectic transformation $x \leftrightarrow y$ on the spectral curve in the context of topological recursion. We conjecture that the generating series of fully simple maps are computed by the topological recursion after exchange of $x$ and $y$. We propose an argument to prove this statement conditionally to a mild version of symplectic invariance for the $1$-hermitian matrix model, which is believed to be true but has not been proved yet. Our argument relies on an (unconditional) matrix model interpretation of fully simple maps, via the formal hermitian matrix model with external field. We also deduce a universal relation between generating series of fully simple maps and of ordinary maps, which involves double monotone Hurwitz numbers. In particular, (ordinary) maps without internal faces -- which are generated by the Gaussian Unitary Ensemble -- and with boundary perimeters $(\lambda_1,\ldots,\lambda_n)$ are strictly monotone double Hurwitz numbers with ramifications $\lambda$ above $\infty$ and $(2,\ldots,2)$ above $0$. Combining with a recent result of Dubrovin et al. math-ph/1612.02333, this implies an ELSV-like formula for these Hurwitz numbers., Comment: 66 pages, 7 figures

We prove the orbifold version of Zvonkine's $r$-ELSV formula in two special cases: the case of $r=2$ (complete $3$-cycles) for any genus $g\geq 0$ and the case of any $r\geq 1$ for genus $g=0$., Comment: 20 pages

These are lecture notes for a 4h mini-course held in Toulouse, May 9-12th, at the thematic school on "Quantum topology and geometry". The goal of these lectures is to (a) explain some incarnations, in the last ten years, of the idea of topological recursion: in two dimensional quantum field theories, in cohomological field theories, in the computation of Weil-Petersson volumes of the moduli space of curves; (b) relate them more specifically to Eynard-Orantin topological recursion (revisited from Kontsevich-Soibelman point of view based on quantum Airy structures)., Comment: 48 pages, 16 figures