LAUSR

Random-matrix eigenvalues have a well-known interpretation as a gas of like-charge particles. We make use of this to introduce a model of vortex dynamics by defining a time-dependent wave function as the characteristic polynomial of a random matrix with a parameterized deformation, the zeros of which form a gas of interacting vortices in the phase. By the introduction of a quaternionic structure, these systems are generalized to include antivortices and nonvortical topological defects: phase maxima, phase minima, and phase saddles. The commutative group structure for complexes (which undergo topologically allowed reactions) generates a hierarchy. Several special cases, including defect-line bubbles and knots, are discussed from both an analytical and computational perspective. Finally, we return to the quaternion structures to provide an interpretation of two-vortex fundamental processes as states in a quaternionic space, where annihilation corresponds to scattering out of real space, and identify a time-energy uncertainty principle.