The theory of random matrices was introduced by John Wishart (1898–1956) in 1928. The theory was then developed within the field of nuclear physics from 1955 by Eugene Paul Wigner (1902–1995) and later by Freeman John Dyson, who were both concerned with the statistical description of heavy atoms and their electromagnetic properties. In this snapshot, we show how mathematical properties can have unexpected links to physical phenomenena. In particular, we show that the eigenvalues of some particular random matrices can mimic the electrostatic repulsion of the particles in a gas.
