Abstract: 

It was found in the 1990s that special linear maps playing a role in the representation theory of the symmetric group share common features with random matrices. We construct a representation-theoretic operator which shares some properties with the Anderson model (or, perhaps, with magnetic random Schroedinger operators), and show that indeed it boasts Lifshitz tails. The proof relies on a close connection between the operator and the infinite board version of the fifteen puzzle.
No background in the representation theory of the symmetric group will be assumed. Based on joint work with Ohad Feldheim.