Missing levels in correlated spectra

Complete spectroscopy (measurements of a complete sequence of consecutive levels) is often considered as a prerequisite to extract fluctuation properties of spectra. It is shown how this goal can be achieved even if only a fraction of levels are observed. The case of levels behaving as eigenvalues of random matrices, of current interest in nuclear physics, is worked out in detail. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.