Phase strucutre of fuzzy field theories and multitrace matrix models

Abstract: We review the interplay of fuzzy field theories and matrix models, with an emphasis on the phase structure of fuzzy scalar field theories. We give a self-contained introduction to these topics and give the details concerning the saddle point approach for the usual single trace and multitrace matrix models. We then review the attempts to explain the phase structure of the fuzzy field theory using a corresponding random matrix ensemble, showing the strength and weaknesses of this approach. We conclude with a list of challenges one needs to overcome and the most interesting open problems one can try to solve.