Limiting distribution of eigenvalues in the large sieve matrix

The large sieve inequality is equivalent to the bound $\lambda_1 \leqslant N + Q^2-1$ for the largest eigenvalue $\lambda_1$ of the $N$ by $N$ matrix $A^{\star} A$, naturally associated to the positive definite quadratic form arising in the inequality. For arithmetic applications the most interesting range is $N \asymp Q^2$. Based on his numerical data Ramar\'e conjectured that when $N \sim \alpha Q^2$ as $Q \rightarrow \infty$ for some finite positive constant $\alpha$, the limiting distribution of the eigenvalues of $A^{\star} A$, scaled by $1/N$, exists and is non-degenerate. In this paper we prove this conjecture by establishing the convergence of all moments of the eigenvalues of $A^{\star} A$ as $Q\rightarrow\infty$. Previously only the second moment was known, due to Ramar\'e. Furthermore, we obtain an explicit description of the moments of the limiting distribution, and establish that they vary continuously with $\alpha$. Some of the main ingredients in our proof include the large-sieve inequality and results on $n$-correlations of Farey fractions.