Result 232, Probability and statistical mechanics

Gaussian fields and interfaces for triangular-lattice Lipschitz heights

Proves Gaussian free field limits on bounded smooth simply connected domains for triangular-lattice height models: uniform odd heights with increments 0,±20,\pm2 and two-arc boundary values ±1\pm1, and zero-boundary integer Lipschitz heights weighted by fixed x∈[1/2,1]x\in[1/\sqrt2,1]. Uniform real Lipschitz heights also converge to a Gaussian field; at a tuned opposite-boundary amplitude, their interface converges to chordal SLE4, establishing Schramm’s real-field/interface predictions.

Proof

The bigger picture

Why it matters

Random surfaces built from tightly constrained local height differences can share the same large-scale fluctuations. These manuscripts report Gaussian limits for triangular-lattice surfaces, linking discrete height rules to a common continuum description.

What changes?

For integer heights whose neighboring values differ by at most one, the weighted manuscript reports convergence with zero boundary heights and a factor x for each edge where height changes, for every fixed x between 1/sqrt(2) and 1, inclusive. Dividing heights by a positive constant depending only on x yields the zero-boundary Gaussian free field, a generalized Gaussian random surface. This holds on bounded C2 Jordan domains, using lattice approximations from inside with uniformly convergent boundary parametrizations.

What does that help mathematicians do?

The other manuscripts report corresponding limits on smooth simply connected domains: a universal multiple for centered uniform odd heights with neighbor differences 0 or ±2 and boundary values +1 and -1 on two arcs, and a multiple for centered uniform real Lipschitz heights. Convergence as random distributions describes spatially averaged fluctuations, not pointwise heights. Researchers can thus identify Gaussian large-scale behavior despite different microscopic height rules, and the odd-height manuscript supplies an absolutely convergent finite-volume formula for its normalization.

Are there practical applications?

The immediate value is foundational for statistical mechanics: these claims connect surface fluctuations with interface geometry. For uniform real heights, at one tuned opposite boundary amplitude, the zero-height interface reportedly converges in uniform curve distance to chordal SLE4, a particular conformally invariant random curve. This identifies a continuum interface law at that amplitude, not for arbitrary boundary heights.

This section was generated by GPT-6 Astra Medium. This explanation is based on the result summary and manuscript abstracts below. This context is separate from OpenAI's source text.

3 manuscripts

Gaussian free-field limits of weighted integer Lipschitz heights

September 25, 2026 73 pages

We prove a Gaussian free field scaling limit for weighted integer Lipschitz heights on the triangular lattice. With zero boundary values and a factor x for each edge on which the height changes, the field converges after division by a positive constant depending only on x to the zero-Dirichlet Gaussian free field, for every fixed x∈[1/2,1]x\in[1/\sqrt2,1]. The convergence holds as a random distribution on every bounded C2 Jordan domain under inside lattice approximations with uniformly convergent boundary parametrizations. This includes the uniform height model and the predicted critical endpoint.

Cite (BibTeX)
@misc{OAI:Gaussian-free-field-limits-of-weighted-integer-Lipschitz-heights-September-25-2026,
  author = {{OpenAI}},
  title = {{Gaussian free-field limits of weighted integer Lipschitz heights}},
  howpublished = {OpenAI Math Release preprint
                  \href{https://github.com/openai/math/blob/main/preprints/Gaussian-free-field-limits-of-weighted-integer-Lipschitz-heights-September-25-2026/paper.pdf}{OAI:Gaussian-free-field-limits-of-weighted-integer-Lipschitz-heights-September-25-2026}},
  year = {2026}
}

The Gaussian free field limit of integer Lipschitz heights with two-arc boundary data

September 25, 2026 62 pages

We prove that the centered uniform odd integer height function on triangular-lattice approximations of a smooth simply connected domain, with neighboring differences zero or two and boundary values +1 and −1 on two arcs, converges to a universal multiple of the Dirichlet Gaussian free field. This resolves the field part of Schramm's Problem 2.2. We give an absolutely convergent finite-volume formula for the normalization. The proof combines reflection positivity, a spectral sum rule, and boundary comparison with Gaussian moment identities.

Cite (BibTeX)
@misc{OAI:The-Gaussian-free-field-limit-of-integer-Lipschitz-heights-with-two-arc-boundary-data-September-25-2026,
  author = {{OpenAI}},
  title = {{The Gaussian free field limit of integer Lipschitz heights with two-arc boundary data}},
  howpublished = {OpenAI Math Release preprint
                  \href{https://github.com/openai/math/blob/main/preprints/The-Gaussian-free-field-limit-of-integer-Lipschitz-heights-with-two-arc-boundary-data-September-25-2026/paper.pdf}{OAI:The-Gaussian-free-field-limit-of-integer-Lipschitz-heights-with-two-arc-boundary-data-September-25-2026}},
  year = {2026}
}

Uniform real Lipschitz surfaces on the triangular lattice

September 25, 2026 85 pages

We prove the Gaussian free field and SLE4_4 scaling limits for uniformly sampled real nearest-neighbor Lipschitz heights on the triangular lattice, resolving Schramm's Problem 2.3. On approximations of smooth simply connected domains, the centered height field converges as a random distribution to a multiple of the Dirichlet Gaussian free field. At one tuned two-arc boundary amplitude, the zero-height interface converges in uniform curve distance to chordal SLE4_4. We identify the relation between the field variance and the boundary height in terms of an implicit stationary tangent-flux coefficient.

Cite (BibTeX)
@misc{OAI:Uniform-real-Lipschitz-surfaces-on-the-triangular-lattice-September-25-2026,
  author = {{OpenAI}},
  title = {{Uniform real Lipschitz surfaces on the triangular lattice}},
  howpublished = {OpenAI Math Release preprint
                  \href{https://github.com/openai/math/blob/main/preprints/Uniform-real-Lipschitz-surfaces-on-the-triangular-lattice-September-25-2026/paper.pdf}{OAI:Uniform-real-Lipschitz-surfaces-on-the-triangular-lattice-September-25-2026}},
  year = {2026}
}

Data from github.com/openai/math at commit adc7f12, committed October 6, 2026 at 21:58 UTC, last checked for changes about 9 hours ago. Titles, subjects, summaries, abstracts and Lean notes are OpenAI's; page counts are read from the PDFs. The map, related results, search, kinds of results and the named-problem index are Emergent Mind's, built with text embeddings and an LLM, and may contain errors.

An Emergent Mind Labs project. Emergent Mind is not affiliated with OpenAI. None of these results has been peer reviewed. Cite the manuscripts themselves, using the BibTeX on each result's page.