We study gradient percolation for site percolation on the triangular lattice. This is a percolation model where the percolation probability depends linearly on the location of the site. We prove the results predicted by physicists for this model. More precisely, we describe the fluctuations of the interfaces around their (straight) scaling limits, and the expected and typical lengths of these interfaces. These results build on the recent results for critical percolation on this lattice by Smirnov, Lawler, Schramm and Werner, and on the scaling ideas developed by Kesten.
We consider full scaling limits of planar nearcritical percolation in the Quad-Crossing-Topology introduced by Schramm and Smirnov. We show that two nearcritical scaling limits with different parameters are singular with respect to each other. The results hold for percolation models on rather general lattices, including bond percolation on the square lattice and site percolation on the triangular lattice.
We construct the uniform infinite planar map (UIPM), obtained as the n \to \infty local limit of planar maps with n edges, chosen uniformly at random. We then describe how the UIPM can be sampled using a "peeling" process, in a similar way as for uniform triangulations. This process allows us to prove that for bond and site percolation on the UIPM, the percolation thresholds are p_c^bond=1/2 and p_c^site=2/3 respectively. This method also works for other classes of random infinite planar maps, and we show in particular that for bond percolation on the uniform infinite planar quadrangulation, t…
In this work, we consider critical planar site percolation on the triangular lattice and derive sharp estimates on the asymptotics of the probability of half-plane $j$-arm events for $j \geq 1$ and planar (polychromatic) $j$-arm events for $j>1$. These estimates greatly improve previous results and in particular answer (a large part of) a question of Schramm (ICM Proc., 2006).
We consider large random planar maps and study the first-passage percolation distance obtained by assigning independent identically distributed lengths to the edges. We consider the cases of quadrangulations and of general planar maps. In both cases, the first-passage percolation distance is shown to behave in large scales like a constant times the usual graph distance. We apply our method to the metric properties of the classical Tutte bijection between quadrangulations with $n$ faces and general planar maps with $n$ edges. We prove that the respective graph distances on the quadrangulation a…
We study a large class of Bernoulli percolation models on random lattices of the half- plane, obtained as local limits of uniform planar triangulations or quadrangulations. We first compute the exact value of the site percolation threshold in the quadrangular case using the so-called peeling techniques. Then, we generalize a result of Angel about the scaling limit of crossing probabilities, that are a natural analogue to Cardy's formula in (non-random) plane lattices. Our main result is that those probabilities are universal, in the sense that they do not depend on the percolation model neithe…
We prove that for a non-amenable, locally finite, connected, transitive, planar graph with one end, any automorphism invariant site percolation on the graph does not have exactly 1 infinite 1-cluster and exactly 1 infinite 0-cluster a.s. If we further assume that the site percolation is insertion-tolerant and a.s.~there exists a unique infinite 0-cluster, then a.s.~there are no infinite 1-clusters. The proof is based on the analysis of a class of delicately constructed interfaces between clusters and contours. Applied to the case of i.i.d.~Bernoulli site percolation on infinite, connected, loc…
We discuss duality properties of critical Boltzmann planar maps such that the degree of a typical face is in the domain of attraction of a stable distribution with parameter $α\in(1,2]$. We consider the critical Bernoulli bond percolation model on a Boltzmann map in the dilute and generic regimes $α\in (3/2,2]$, and show that the open percolation cluster of the origin is itself a Boltzmann map in the dense regime $α\in (1,3/2)$, with parameter \[α':= \frac{2α+3}{4α-2}.\] This is the counterpart in random planar maps of the duality property $κ\leftrightarrow 16/κ$ of Schramm-Loewner Evolutions …
We prove the existence of phase transitions in the global connectivity of the excursion sets of planar symmetric shot noise fields. Our main result establishes a phase transition with respect to the level for shot noise fields with symmetric log-concave mark distributions, including Gaussian, uniform, and Laplace marks, and kernels that are positive, symmetric, and have sufficient tail decay. Without the log-concavity assumption we prove a phase transition with respect to the intensity of positive marks.
We study infinite ``$+$'' or ``$-$'' clusters for an Ising model on an connected, transitive, non-amenable, planar, one-ended graph $G$ with finite vertex degree. If the critical percolation probability $p_c^{site}$ for the i.i.d.~Bernoulli site percolation on $G$ is less than $\frac{1}{2}$, we find an explicit region for the coupling constant of the Ising model such that there are infinitely many infinite ``$+$''-clusters and infinitely many infinite ``$-$''-clusters, while the random cluster representation of the Ising model has no infinite 1-clusters. If $p_c^{site}>\frac{1}{2}$, we obtain …
We analyze the geometry of domain Markov half planar triangulations. In \cite{AR13} it is shown that there exists a one-parameter family of measures supported on half planar triangulations satisfying translation invariance and domain Markov property. We study the geometry of these maps and show that they exhibit a sharp phase-transition in view of their geometry at $α= 2/3$. For $α<2/3$, the maps form a tree-like stricture with infinitely many small cut-sets. For $α> 2/3$, we obtain maps of hyperbolic nature with exponential growth and anchored expansion. Some results about the geometry of per…
We study a random perturbation of the Euclidean plane, and show that it is unlikely that the distance-minimizing path between the two points can be extended into an infinite distance-minimizing path. More precisely, we study a large class of planar first-passage percolation models and show that the probability that a given site is visited by an infinite geodesic starting at the origin tends to zero uniformly with the distance. In particular, this show that the collection of infinite geodesics starting at the origin covers a negligible fraction of the plane. This provides the first progress on …
We initiate the study on chemical distances of percolation clusters for level sets of two-dimensional discrete Gaussian free fields as well as loop clusters generated by two-dimensional random walk loop soups. One of our results states that the chemical distance between two macroscopic annuli away from the boundary for the random walk loop soup at the critical intensity is of dimension 1 with positive probability. Our proof method is based on an interesting combination of a theorem of Makarov, isomorphism theory and an entropic repulsion estimate for Gaussian free fields in the presence of a h…
Let G be a planar graph with polynomial growth and isoperimetric dimension bigger than 1. Then the critical p for Bernoulli percolation on G satisfies p<1.
We formulate conjectures regarding percolation on planar triangulations suggested by assuming (quasi) invariance under coarse conformal uniformization.
We prove Tsirelson's conjecture that any scaling limit of the critical planar percolation is a black noise. Our theorems apply to a number of percolation models, including site percolation on the triangular grid and any subsequential scaling limit of bond percolation on the square grid. We also suggest a natural construction for the scaling limit of planar percolation, and more generally of any discrete planar model describing connectivity properties.
The peeling process, which describes a step-by-step exploration of a planar map, has been instrumental in addressing percolation problems on random infinite planar maps. Bond and face percolation on maps with faces of arbitrary degree are conveniently studied via so-called lazy-peeling explorations. During such explorations distinct vertices on the exploration contour may at later stage be identified, making the process less suited to the study of site percolation. To tackle this situation and to explicitly identify site-percolation thresholds, we come back to the alternative "simple" peeling …
We prove that the connectivity of the level sets of a wide class of smooth centred planar Gaussian fields exhibits a phase transition at the zero level that is analogous to the phase transition in Bernoulli percolation. In addition to symmetry, positivity and regularity conditions, we assume only that correlations decay polynomially with exponent larger than two -- roughly equivalent to the integrability of the covariance kernel -- whereas previously the phase transition was only known in the case of the Bargmann-Fock covariance kernel which decays super-exponentially. We also prove that the p…
Parafermionic observables were introduced by Smirnov for planar FK percolation in order to study the critical phase $(p,q)=(p_c(q),q)$. This article gathers several known properties of these observables. Some of these properties are used to prove the divergence of the correlation length when approaching the critical point for FK percolation when $1\le q\le 4$. A crucial step is to consider FK percolation on the universal cover of the punctured plane. We also mention several conjectures on FK percolation with arbitrary cluster-weight $q>0$.
We introduce the Incipient Infinite Cluster (IIC) in the critical Bernoulli site percolation model on the Uniform Infinite Half-Planar Triangulation (UIHPT), which is the local limit of large random triangulations with a boundary. The IIC is defined from the UIHPT by conditioning the open percolation cluster of the origin to be infinite. We prove that the IIC can be obtained by adding within the UIHPT an infinite triangulation with a boundary whose distribution is explicit.
Let f be a stationary isotropic non-degenerate Gaussian field on R^2. Assume that f = q * W where q is both C^2 and L^2 and W is the L^2 white noise on R^2. We extend a result by Stephen Muirhead and Hugo Vanneuville by showing that, assuming that q * q is pointwise non-negative and has fast enough decay, the set {f > -l} percolates with probability one when l > 0 and with probability zero if l < 0 or l = 0. We also prove exponential decay of crossing probabilities and uniqueness of the unbounded cluster. To this end, we study a Gaussian field g defined on the torus and establish a superconcen…
Kesten showed the exponential decay of percolation probability in the subcritical phase for the two-dimensional percolation model. This result implies his celebrated computation that $p_c=0.5$ for bond percolation in the square lattice, and site percolation in the triangular lattice, respectively. In this paper, we present a simpler proof for Kesten's theorem.
Prompted by an example arising in critical percolation, we study some reflected Brownian motions in symmetric planar domains and show that they are intertwined with one-dimensional diffusions. In the case of a wedge, the reflected Brownian motion is intertwined with the 3-dimensional Bessel process. This implies some simple hitting distributions and sheds some light on the formula proposed by Watts for double-crossing probabilities in critical percolation.
We prove a general Russo-Seymour-Welsh result valid for any invariant planar percolation process satisfying positive association. This means that the probability of crossing a rectangle in the long direction is related by a homeomorphism to the probability of crossing it in the short direction. This homeomorphism is universal in the sense that it depends only on the aspect ratio of the rectangle, and is uniform in the scale and the considered model.
We consider several aspects of the scaling limit of percolation on random planar triangulations, both finite and infinite. The equivalents for random maps of Cardy's formula for the limit under scaling of various crossing probabilities are given. The limit probabilities are expressed in terms of simple events regarding Airy-Levy processes. Some explicit formulas for limit probabilities follow from this relation by applying known results on stable processes. Conversely, natural symmetries of the random maps imply identities concerning the Airy-Levy processes.
In recent years, important progress has been made in the field of two-dimensional statistical physics. One of the most striking achievements is the proof of the Cardy-Smirnov formula. This theorem, together with the introduction of Schramm-Loewner Evolution and techniques developed over the years in percolation, allow precise descriptions of the critical and near-critical regimes of the model. This survey aims to describe the different steps leading to the proof that the infinite-cluster density $θ(p)$ for site percolation on the triangular lattice behaves like $(p-p_c)^{5/36+o(1)}$ as $p\sear…
We study first passage percolation on the plane for a family of invariant, ergodic measures on $\mathbb{Z}^2$. We prove that for all of these models the asymptotic shape is the $\ell$-$1$ ball and that there are exactly four infinite geodesics starting at the origin a.s. In addition we determine the exponents for the variance and wandering of finite geodesics. We show that the variance and wandering exponents do not satisfy the relationship of $χ=2ξ-1$ which is expected for independent first passage percolation.
We prove $\sqrt{\log n}$ lower bounds on the order of growth fluctuations in three planar growth models (first-passage percolation, last-passage percolation, and directed polymers) under no assumptions on the distribution of vertex or edge weights other than the minimum conditions required for avoiding pathologies. Such bounds were previously known only for certain restrictive classes of distributions.In addition, the first-passage shape fluctuation exponent is shown to be at least $1/8$, extending previous results to more general distributions.
This is an introductory account of the emergence of conformal invariance in the scaling limit of planar critical percolation. We give an exposition of Smirnov's theorem (2001) on the conformal invariance of crossing probabilities in site percolation on the triangular lattice. We also give an introductory account of Schramm-Loewner evolutions (SLE(k)), a one-parameter family of conformally invariant random curves discovered by Schramm (2000). The article is organized around the aim of proving the result, due to Smirnov (2001) and to Camia and Newman (2007), that the percolation exploration path…
We consider a generalised oriented site percolation model (GOSP) on $\mathbb Z^d$ with arbitrary neighbourhood. The key additional difficulties as compared to standard oriented percolation (OP) are the lack of symmetry and, in two dimensions, of planarity. We establish that, despite these deficiencies, in the supercritical regime GOSP behaves qualitatively like OP.
We consider a critical Bernoulli site percolation on the uniform infinite planar triangulation. We study the tail distributions of the peeling time, perimeter, and volume of the hull of a critical cluster. The exponents obtained here differs by a factor 2 from those computed previously by Angel and Curien (2015) in the case of critical site percolation on the uniform infinite half-plane triangulation.
In this note, we study the model of directed last passage percolation on $\mathbb{Z}^2$, with i.i.d. exponential weight. We consider the maximum paths from vertices $\left(0,\lfloor k^{2/3} \rfloor\right)$ and $(\lfloor k^{2/3} \rfloor,0)$ to $(n,n)$, respectively. For the coalescing point of these paths, we show that the probability for it being $>kR$ far away from the origin is in the order of $R^{-2/3}$. This is motivated by a recent work of Basu, Sarkar, and Sly, where the same estimate was obtained for semi-infinite geodesics, and the optimal exponent for the finite case was left open. Ou…
Consider critical percolation in two dimensions. Under the condition that there are k disjoint alternating black and white arms crossing the annulus A(l,n), we prove a central limit theorem and variance estimates for the winding angles of the arms (as n\rightarrow \infty, l fixed). This result confirms a prediction of Beffara and Nolin (Ann. Probab. 39: 1286--1304, 2011). Using this theorem, we also get a CLT for the multiple-armed incipient infinite cluster (IIC) measures.
We investigate the so-called monochromatic arm exponents for critical percolation in two dimensions. These exponents, describing the probability of observing j disjoint macroscopic paths, are shown to exist and to form a different family from the (now well understood) polychromatic exponents. More specifically, our main result is that the monochromatic j-arm exponent is strictly between the polychromatic j-arm and (j+1)-arm exponents.
We study Bernoulli percolations on random lattices of the half-plane obtained as local limit of uniform planar triangulations or quadrangulations. Using the characteristic spatial Markov property or peeling process of these random lattices we prove a surprisingly simple universal formula for the critical threshold for bond and face percolations on these graphs. Our techniques also permit us to compute off-critical and critical exponents related to percolation clusters such as the volume and the perimeter.
We provide a new proof of the near-critical scaling relation $β=ξ_1ν$ for Bernoulli percolation on the square lattice already proved by Kesten in 1987. We rely on a novel approach that does not invoke Russo's formula, but rather relates differences in crossing probabilities at different scales. The argument is shorter and more robust than previous ones and is more likely to be adapted to other models. The same approach may be used to prove the other scaling relations appearing in Kesten's work.
We consider first-passage percolation on the two-dimensional integer lattice Z^2 with passage times that are IID exponentials of mean one. It has been conjectured, based on numerical evidence, that the variance of the time T(0,n) to reach the vertex (0,n) is of order n^{2/3}. Kesten showed that the variance of T(0,n) is at O(n). He also noted that the variance is bounded away from zero. This note improves the lower bound on the variance of T(0,n) to C log n. Simultaneously and independently, Newman and Piza have achieved the same result for {0,1}-valued passage times. Their methods extend to m…
For two-dimensional percolation at criticality, we discuss the inequality $α_4 > 1$ for the polychromatic four-arm exponent (and stronger versions, the strongest so far being $α_4 \geq 1 + \frac{α_2}{2}$, where $α_2$ denotes the two-arm exponent). We first briefly discuss five proofs (some of them implicit and not self-contained) from the literature. Then we observe that, by combining two of them, one gets a completely self-contained (and yet quite short) proof.
We study the geometry of infinite random Boltzmann planar maps having weight of polynomial decay of order $k^{-2}$ for each vertex of degree $k$. These correspond to the dual of the discrete "stable maps" of Le Gall and Miermont [Scaling limits of random planar maps with large faces, Ann. Probab. 39, 1 (2011), 1-69] studied in [Budd & Curien, Geometry of infinite planar maps with high degrees, Electron. J. Probab. (to appear)] related to a symmetric Cauchy process, or alternatively to the maps obtained after taking the gasket of a critical $O(2)$-loop model on a random planar map. We show that…
Self-destructive percolation with parameters $p,δ$ is obtained by taking a site percolation configuration with parameter $p$, closing all sites belonging to infinite clusters, then opening every closed site with probability $δ$, independently of the rest. Call $θ(p,δ)$ the probability that the origin is in an infinite cluster in the configuration thus obtained. For two-dimensional lattices, we show the existence of $δ>0$ such that, for any $p>p_c$, $θ(p,δ)=0$. This proves the conjecture of van den Berg and Brouwer [Random Structures Algorithms 24 (2004) 480-501], who introduced the model. Our …
Recently, the authors showed that the critical probability for random Voronoi percolation in the plane is 1/2. A by-product of the method was a short proof of the Harris-Kesten Theorem concerning bond percolation in the planar square lattice. The aim of this paper is to show that the same techniques can be applied to many other planar percolation models, both to obtain short proofs of known results, and to prove new ones.
A construction as a growth process for sampling of the uniform infinite planar triangulation (UIPT), defined in a previous paper, is given. The construction is algorithmic in nature, and is an efficient method of sampling a portion of the UIPT. By analyzing the progress rate of the growth process we show that a.s. the UIPT has growth rate r^4 up to polylogarithmic factors, confirming heuristic results from the physics literature. Additionally, the boundary component of the ball of radius r separating it from infinity a.s. has growth rate r^2 up to polylogarithmic factors. It is also shown that…
We provide the first nontrivial upper bound for the chemical distance exponent in two-dimensional critical percolation. Specifically, we prove that the expected length of the shortest horizontal crossing path of a box of side length $n$ in critical percolation on $\mathbb{Z}^2$ is bounded by $Cn^{2-δ}π_3(n)$, for some $δ>0$, where $π_3(n)$ is the "three-arm probability to distance $n$." This implies that the ratio of this length to the length of the lowest crossing is bounded by an inverse power of $n$ with high probability. In the case of site percolation on the triangular lattice, we obtain …
A circle packing is a collection of disks with disjoint interiors in the plane. It naturally defines a graph by tangency. It is shown that there exists $p>0$ such that the following holds for every circle packing: If each disk is retained with probability $p$ independently, then the probability that there is a path of retained disks connecting the origin to infinity is zero. The following conclusions are derived using results on circle packings of planar graphs: (i) Site percolation with parameter $p$ has no infinite connected component on recurrent simple plane triangulations, or on Benjamini…
