Zeros and Critical Points of Gaussian Fields: Cumulants Asymptotics and Limit Theorems

Abstract: Let $f:\mathbb{R}^d \to \mathbb{R}^k$ be a smooth centered stationary Gaussian field and $K \subset \mathbb{R}^d$ be a compact set. In this paper, we determine the asymptotics as $n \to \infty$ of all the cumulants of the $(d-k)$-dimensional volume of $f^{-1}(0) \cap nK$. When $k=1$, we obtain similar asymptotics for the number of critical points of $f$ in $nK$. Our main hypotheses are some regularity and non-degeneracy of the field, as well as mild integrability conditions on the first derivatives of its covariance kernel. As corollaries of these cumulants estimates, we deduce a strong Law of Large Numbers and a Central Limit Theorem for the nodal volume (resp.~the number of critical points) of a smooth non-degenerate field whose covariance kernel admits square integrable derivatives at any order. Our results hold more generally for a one-parameter family $(f_n)$ of Gaussian fields admitting a stationary local scaling limit as $n \to \infty$, for example Kostlan polynomials in the large degree limit.