A convergence framework for Airy$_β$ line ensemble via pole evolution

Abstract: The Airy$\beta$ line ensemble is an infinite sequence of random curves. It is a natural extension of the Tracy-Widom$\beta$ distributions, and is expected to be the universal edge scaling limit of a range of models in random matrix theory and statistical mechanics. In this work, we provide a framework of proving convergence to the Airy$\beta$ line ensemble, via a characterization through the pole evolution of meromorphic functions satisfying certain stochastic differential equations. Our framework is then applied to prove the universality of the Airy$\beta$ line ensemble as the edge limit of various continuous time processes, including Dyson Brownian motions with general $\beta$ and potentials, Laguerre processes and Jacobi processes.