Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

We will discuss a new method of asymptotic analysis of matrix-valued Riemann-Hilbert problems that involves dispensing with analyticity in favor of measured deviation therefrom. This method allows the large-degree analysis of orthogonal polynomials on the real line with respect to varying nonanalytic weights with external fields having two Lipschitz-continuous derivatives, as long as the corresponding equilibrium measure has typical support properties. Universality of local eigenvalue statistics of unitary-invariant ensembles in random matrix theory follows under the same conditions. This is joint work with Ken McLaughlin.