Fake symmetry transitions in lattice Dirac spectra

In a recent lattice investigation of Ginsparg-Wilson-type Dirac operators in the Schwinger model, it was found that the symmetry class of the random matrix theory describing the small Dirac eigenvalues appeared to change from the unitary to the symplectic case as a function of lattice size and coupling constant. We present a natural explanation for this observation in the framework of a random matrix model, showing that the apparent change is caused by the onset of chiral symmetry restoration in a finite volume. A transition from unitary to symplectic symmetry does not occur.