We consider the real noncentral sample covariance matrices $\mathcal{W}=YY^\top$ with $Y=A+\Sigma^{1/2}X$. Here $A\in\mathbb{R}^{M\times N}$ is deterministic, $\Sigma$ is a deterministic positive definite population covariance matrix and $X\in\mathbb{R}^{M\times N}$ has independent centered entries with variance $N^{-1}$. We prove local laws near regular right edges down to optimal spectral scales without requiring the commutativity of $AA^\top$ and $\Sigma$. As a consequence, we obtain optimal eigenvalue rigidity at the rightmost regular edge and delocalization of the corresponding left and right singular vectors. We also show that, with high probability, there are no eigenvalues in the adjacent spectral gap beyond the optimal $N^{-2/3}$ edge scale, up to an arbitrarily small $N^\varepsilon$ loss. Finally, we establish edge universality at the rightmost regular edge: after centering and scaling, the largest eigenvalue converges to the Tracy--Widom distribution. The main technical ingredient is a stability analysis of the matrix Dyson equation (MDE) associated with the linearization of $Y$, whose self-energy operator does not satisfy the flatness condition of the general MDE theory. Exploiting the special block structure, we reduce the stability analysis exactly to a two-dimensional operator. This reduction yields regularity of the spectral density and square-root behavior at regular right edges, together with sharp stability bounds near such edges.
We prove local laws for the resolvents of separable covariance matrices of the form $\mathcal Q=A^{1/2}XBX^*A^{1/2}$, where $X=(x_{ij})$ is a $p\times n$ random matrix whose entries $x_{ij}$ are i.i.d.~random variables with mean 0 and variance $n^{-1}$, and $A,B$ are deterministic non-negative definite symmetric (or Hermitian) matrices. Following the method developed in arXiv:1611.05364, we first establish a self-consistent equation for the resolvent of $\mathcal Q$ and use it to prove optimal local laws without the technical assumption $\mathbb{E}[x_{ij}^{3}]=0$, which was essential in the previous derivation of the local laws in arXiv:1809.04572. As an application of our local law, we compute the asymptotic distribution of the outlier eigenvalues for spiked separable covariance matrices, extending the corresponding result in arXiv:2008.11903.
We study sample covariance matrices $K = \frac{1}{N} \sum_{i=1}^N \mathbf{x}_i \mathbf{x}_i^* \in \mathbb{R}^{n \times n}$ in the proportional regime $n \asymp N$. The columns $ \mathbf{x}_1, \ldots, \mathbf{x}_N \in \mathbb{R}^n$ are independent and centered, with common covariance $\mathbb{E} \mathbf{x}_i \mathbf{x}_i^* = \Sigma$, but may otherwise have strongly and nonlinearly dependent coordinates. Assuming only that quadratic forms of the columns concentrate uniformly at the optimal rate $| \mathbf{x}_i^* A \mathbf{x}_i - \mathrm{Tr} \Sigma A | \prec \| A \|_F$, together with polynomial norm moments and a standard nondegeneracy condition on $\Sigma$, we prove the optimal anisotropic local law: on regular spectral domains, uniformly down to spectral scales $\eta:= \mathrm{Im}\, z \geq N^{-1 + \tau}$, \[ \big| \langle \mathbf{u} , \big( (K-z)^{-1} - (-zI_n-z\widetilde m_0(z)\Sigma \big)^{-1} \big) \mathbf{v} \>\big| \prec \sqrt{\frac{\mathrm{Im}\, \widetilde m_0 (z)}{N\eta}} + \frac{1}{N\eta} \] for all deterministic unit vectors $ \mathbf{u}, \mathbf{v} \in \mathbb{C}^n$, where $\widetilde m_0(z)$ is the Stieltjes transform of the deformed Marchenko-Pastur law. This removes the higher-cumulant tensor assumption of Fan, Ma, Paquette, and Wang (2026), thereby answering the question raised in their work. The result applies, among other examples, to every centered log-concave column distribution with bounded, nondegenerate covariance, nonlinear tilts of Gaussian vectors, deep random features, and a high-temperature spherical 4-spin model for which the cumulant assumption is known to fail.
Let $W=n^{-1/2}\sum_{i=1}^n X_i$, where the $X_i$ are independent centered random vectors in ${\mathbb R}^p$ with $|X_{ij}|\le B$ almost surely. Suppose that $\text{Cov}(W)$ has unit diagonal and smallest eigenvalue at least $b^2>0$. We prove that the distance between $W$ and a Gaussian vector with the same covariance, uniformly over axis-aligned rectangles, is at most $C\min\{1,b^{-2}Bn^{-1/2}\log^{3/2}(ep)\}$. For fixed $b$, the dependence on summand size and dimension matches known lower bounds in growing-dimensional regimes. The proof combines a concentration estimate near rectangle boundaries with a carefully chosen Gaussian comparison.
We study the smallest nonzero eigenvalue of the sample correlation matrix $\mathbf{R}_n$ formed from a $p_n \times n$ data matrix with i.i.d. real entries $\xi$ of mean zero and unit variance, in the high-dimensional regime $p_n / n \to \phi \in (0, \infty) \setminus \{1\}$. In the tall regime $\phi>1$, we prove almost-sure convergence of $\lambda_n (\mathbf{R}_n)$ to the lower Mar\v{c}enko--Pastur edge $\lambda_- = (1 - \sqrt{\phi})^2$ without additional moment assumptions. In the wide regime $\phi<1$, we establish a phase transition at the third-order tail scale. If $t^3 \mathbb{P}\{\lvert \xi \rvert>t\} \to 0$ as $t \to \infty$, the smallest eigenvalue $\lambda_{p_n} (\mathbf{R}_n)$ converges in probability to $\lambda_-$. While if $t^3 \mathbb{P}\{\lvert \xi \rvert>t\} \to \infty$, then $\lambda_{p_n} (\mathbf{R}_n)$ converges in probability to zero. At the critical scale $t^3 \mathbb{P}\{\lvert \xi \rvert>t\} \to \kappa \in (0, \infty)$, the point process of eigenvalues in the lower gap $(0, \lambda_-)$ converges in distribution to a Poisson random measure with explicit intensity. In this critical regime, we also identify the nondegenerate limiting distribution of $\lambda_{p_n} (\mathbf{R}_n)$, which has a continuous density on $(0, \lambda_-)$ and a positive atom at $\lambda_-$.
Ze-Qin Lin, Guamgming Pan, Hao-Zhu Zhao et al.· 0 citations
We provide limit theory for the trace of the squared sample correlation matrix $\mathbf R$, constructed from $n$ observations of a $p$-dimensional random vector with iid components. If the entries have finite fourth moment and $p$ and $n$ grow proportionally, it is known that $\operatorname{tr}({\mathbf R}^2)$ satisfies a central limit theorem (CLT) and the centering and scaling sequences are universal in the sense that they do not depend on the entry distribution. Under symmetry and regular variation assumption with index $\alpha$ and any growth rate of the dimension, we prove that the universal CLT remains valid for $\alpha>3$. For $\alpha<3$, we identify a critical dimension growth at which the fluctuations of $\operatorname{tr}({\mathbf R}^2)$ become non-Gaussian. Moreover, if the dimension $p$ grows faster and $\alpha\le 3$ we establish a non-universal CLT with norming sequences depending on the value of $\alpha$. Our findings are illustrated in a simulation study.
For a centered, variance-one random variable $X$ with finite fourth moment, let $x$ be the vector of square-free degree-$d$ monomials in $n$ independent copies of $X$. At the critical scale $d^2/n \to \lambda \in (0,\infty)$, the normalized squared length of $x$ converges to the lognormal variable $R = \exp(\sqrt{\lambda v}\, Z - \lambda v/2)$, where $v = \mathbb{E} X^4 - 1$ and $Z$ is standard normal. If $\binom{n}{d}/N \to c \in (0,\infty)$, the sample covariance of $N$ independent copies of $x$ has an almost-sure limiting spectral law: the free compound-Poisson law with rate $1/c$ and jump distribution $\operatorname{Law}(cR)$. It reduces to Marchenko-Pastur when $\lambda v = 0$. The proof shows that subtracting the contribution of the sample length leaves vanishing quadratic-form fluctuations, even when $\mathbb{E} X^3 \neq 0$; length and direction need not be independent.
Xiaohui Xie· 0 citations
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