  We summarize recent work showing that the $1/r^2$ model of interacting
particles in 1-dimension is a universal Hamiltonian for quantum chaotic
systems. The problem is analyzed in terms of random matrices and of the
evolution of their eigenvalues under changes of parameters. The robustness of
bulk space-time correlations of a many particle system to changing boundary
conditions is suggested to be at the root of the universality. The explicit
density-density correlation functions of the $1/r^2$ model, now available
through the above mapping at two values of the coupling constant, are
interpreted in the light of Bethe's {\it Ansatz}, giving a vivid picture of the
fractionalization of bare particles or holes into ``quark'' like Bethe
quasi-particles and holes.
