Thomas Bothner

Dr. Thomas Bothner is an Associate Professor in Mathematical Physics at the School of Mathematics, University of Bristol. His research focuses on analytic and probabilistic questions in random matrix theory, mathematical statistical mechanics, and integrable differential equations.

• BSc in Mathematics and Physics (University of Ulm, 2007)
• MSc in Mathematics (University of Ulm, 2009)
• PhD in Mathematical Physics (Purdue University, 2013)

His work emphasizes asymptotics methods, special functions, and orthogonal polynomials, particularly addressing universality classes in random matrices, spectral analysis of integrable operators, and connections to the KPZ equation. He has published extensively on Painlevé transcendents and their applications.

Recent publications highlight his contributions to non-Hermitian random matrices, edge spacing distributions, and Riemann-Hilbert approaches to Fredholm determinants. His research outputs span 21 articles and two completed projects, including studies on the six-vertex model and 2D Ising model scaling functions.

• EPSRC New Investigator Award (2020)
• Gabor Szego Prize (2019)

He leads research projects at the intersection of random matrices and mathematical statistical mechanics, aiming to resolve long-standing conjectures on analytic and asymptotic behaviors of highly correlated systems.