(last updated: September 2026)

Roger Van Peski



I am a mathematician interested in a variety of topics around probability/mathematical physics and their interactions with algebraic combinatorics, representation theory, and number theory. Most of my recent and ongoing work concerns discrete random matrices (over the integers, p-adic integers, or finite fields), with a separate strain devoted to dimer models in the presence of disorder.

I am currently working as a Ritt Assistant Professor (postdoc) at Columbia. I obtained my PhD in 2023 at MIT, advised by Alexei Borodin, and was an undergraduate at Princeton before that.

Office: Columbia Mathematics Department, Room 716

email:
firstname lastname (no spaces/periods) at gmail dot com (general), or
rv2549 at columbia dot edu (columbia/teaching-related)

CV (pdf)


 

Papers

Reverse chronological order of arXiv submission. arXiv versions are updated with changes once accepted for publication, so there's no need to use the (potentially paywalled) journal link to find the updated version. 
  1. (with J. Shen) Eigenvalues of \(p\)-adic random matrices. [arXiv]
  2. (with M. Duits) The Gamma-disordered Aztec diamond. [arXiv] [slides]
  3. (with Y. Huang and H. H. Nguyen) Cohen-Lenstra flag universality for random matrix products. [arXiv]
  4. (with J. Shen) Groups with pairings, Hall modules, and Hall-Littlewood polynomials. [IMRN] [arXiv]
  5. (with J. Shen) Non-Archimedean GUE corners and Hecke modules. [arXiv]
  6. (with H. H. Nguyen) Rank fluctuations of matrix products and a moment method for growing groups. To appear in Annals of Probability. [arXiv] [slides]
  7. The rank of a random triangular matrix over \( \mathbb{F}_q \). [IMRN] [arXiv]
  8. Symmetric functions and the explicit moment problem for abelian groups. [Proceedings of the AMS] [arXiv]
  9. Reflecting Poisson walks and dynamical universality in p-adic random matrix theory. [Annals of Probability] [arXiv] [slides]
  10. Local limits in p-adic random matrix theory. [Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society] [arXiv] [slides]
  11. What is a p-adic Dyson Brownian motion? [Annales de l'Institut Henri Poincaré] [arXiv]
  12. (with H. H. Nguyen) Universality for cokernels of random matrix products. [Advances in Mathematics] [arXiv] [slides]
  13. (with P. Cohen, J. Dell, O. E. Gonzalez, S. Khunger, C. H. Kwan, S. J. Miller, A. Shashkov, A. Reina Smith, C. Sprunger, N. Triantafillou, N. Truong, and S. Willis) Moments of one-level densities in families of holomorphic cusp forms in the level aspect. [Algebra & Number Theory] [arXiv]
  14. q-TASEP with position-dependent slowing. [Electronic Journal of Probability] [arXiv] [slides] (about half cover other things)
  15. Hall-Littlewood polynomials, boundaries, and p-adic random matrices. [IMRN] [arXiv] [slides]
  16. (with A. Ahn) Lyapunov exponents for truncated unitary and Ginibre matrices. [Annales de l'Institut Henri Poincaré] [arXiv]
  17. (with A. Ahn and M. Russkikh) Lozenge tilings and the Gaussian free field on a cylinder. [Communications in Mathematical Physics] [arXiv] [slides]
  18. Limits and fluctuations of p-adic random matrix products. [Selecta Mathematica] [arXiv]
  19. Spectral distributions of periodic random matrix ensembles. [Random Matrices: Theory and Applications] [arXiv]
  20. (with S. DeHority, X. Gonzalez, and N. Vafa) Moonshine for all finite groups. [Res. Math. Sci.] [arXiv]
  21. (with O. E. Gonzalez, C. H. Kwan, S. J. Miller, and T. A. Wong) On smoothing singularities of elliptic orbital integrals on GL(n) and Beyond Endoscopy. [Journal of Number Theory] [arXiv]
  22. (with P. Burkhardt, P. Cohen, J. Dewitt, M. Hlavacek, S.J. Miller, C. Sprunger, Y.N. Truong Vu, and K. Yang) Random matrix ensembles with split limiting behavior. [Random Matrices: Theory and Applications] [arXiv] [slides]
  23. (with S. J. Miller, C. Peterson, and C. Sprunger) The bidirectional ballot polytope. [Integers] [arXiv]
  24. (with V. Gupta and U. Roy) A generalization of Tokuyama's formula to the Hall-Littlewood polynomials. [Electronic J. Combin.] [arXiv]

See also arXiv and Google Scholar.

Other writings: PhD thesis and undergraduate thesis.
Many of the above papers have linked slides next to them, which might be helpful to flip through. Some miscellaneous other notes/slides:


 

Seminars I currently (co)organize

Seminars previously (co)organized


 

Teaching

As instructor of record at Columbia:
  • Spring 2027: MATH UN1101, Calculus I (2 sections)
  • Fall 2026: MATH GU4156, Advanced Probability Theory
  • Spring 2026: MATH UN1101, Calculus I
  • Fall 2025: MATH UN1101, Calculus I (2 sections)
  • Spring 2025: MATH UN1101, Calculus I (2 sections)
  • Fall 2024: MATH UN2500, Analysis and Optimization
For TA jobs before this, see full CV.

Mentoring

I currently coadvise Jiahe Shen (applying for postdocs this year!), together with Ivan Corwin, and mentor a high school intern research project at Columbia. Some mentoring/outreach efforts I've been involved with and would recommend are the MIT Directed Reading Program, SPUR, UROP, GUMMI, PROMYS, Princeton Splash (but there are versions at lots of other schools as well!), Mentoring Möbius; to decode what these actually are see either CV or the links.

 

Miscellaneous

In high school I spent several summers at the PROMYS program, a 6-week math summer camp, and also worked there once I got older. I highly recommend it for any high school age students who like math, or undergraduates looking for a stimulating summer job.