Non-equilibrium Dynamics and Random Matrices

About twenty years ago, Choptuik studied numerically the gravitational collapse (Einstein field equations) of a massless scalar field in spherical symmetry, and found strong evidence for a universal, self-similar solution at the threshold of black hole formation. We give a rigorous, computer assisted proof of the existence of Choptuik's spacetime, and show that it is real analytic. This is joint work with E. Trubowitz.