We consider statistical mechanics models of continuous spins in a disordered environment. These models have a natural interpretation as effective interface models. It is well known that without disorder there are no interface Gibbs measures in infinite volume in dimension $d=2$, while there are ``gradient Gibbs measures'' describing an infinite-volume distribution for the increments of the field, as was shown by Funaki and Spohn. In the present paper we show that adding a disorder term prohibits the existence of such gradient Gibbs measures for general interaction potentials in $d=2$. This nonexistence result generalizes the simple case of Gaussian fields where it follows from an explicit computation. In $d=3$ where random gradient Gibbs measures are expected to exist, our method provides a lower bound of the order of the inverse of the distance on the decay of correlations of Gibbs expectations w.r.t. the distribution of the random environment.
This review-type paper is based on a talk given at the conference {É}tats de la Recherche en M{é}canique statistique, which took place at IHP in Paris (December 10-14, 2018). We revisit old results from the 80's about one dimensional long-range polynomially decaying Ising models (often called Dyson models in dimension one) and describe more recent results about interface fluctuations and interface states in dimensions one and two.
We consider the Gibbs sampler, or heat bath dynamics associated to log-concave measures on $\mathbb{R}^N$ describing $\nablaφ$ interfaces with convex potentials. Under minimal assumptions on the potential, we find that the spectral gap of the process is always given by $\mathrm{gap}_N=1-\cos(π/N)$, and that for all $ε\in(0,1)$, its $ε$-mixing time satisfies $T_N(ε)\sim \frac{\log N}{2\mathrm{gap}_N}$ as $N\to\infty$, thus establishing the cutoff phenomenon. The results reveal a universal behavior in that they do not depend on the choice of the potential.
We consider the Gibbs-measures of continuous-valued height configurations on the $d$-dimensional integer lattice in the presence a weakly disordered potential. The potential is composed of Gaussians having random location and random depth; it becomes periodic under shift of the interface perpendicular to the base-plane for zero disorder. We prove that there exist localized interfaces with probability one in dimensions $d\geq 3+1$, in a `low-temperature' regime. The proof extends the method of continuous-to-discrete single- site coarse graining that was previously applied by the author for a do…
We consider two versions of random gradient models. In model A the interface feels a bulk term of random fields while in model B the disorder enters through the potential acting on the gradients. It is well known that for gradient models without disorder there are no Gibbs measures in infinite-volume in dimension d=2, while there are "gradient Gibbs measures" describing an infinite-volume distribution for the gradients of the field, as was shown by Funaki and Spohn. Van Enter and Külske proved that adding a disorder term as in model A prohibits the existence of such gradient Gibbs measures for…
Hydrodynamic limit for the Ginzburg-Landau $\nablaϕ$ interface model was established in [Nishikawa, 2003] under the Dirichlet boundary conditions. This paper studies the similar problem, but with non-convex potentials. Because of the lack of strict convexity, a lot of difficulties arise, especially, on the identification of equilibrium states. We give a proof of the equivalence between the stationarity and the Gibbs property under quite general settings, and as its conclusion, we complete the identification of equilibrium states under the high temparature regime in [Deuschel and Cotar, 2008]. …
We study the directed last-passage percolation model on the planar integer lattice with nearest-neighbor steps and general i.i.d. weights on the vertices, outside the class of exactly solvable models. In a previous paper we constructed stationary cocycles and Busemann functions for this model. Using these objects, we prove new results on the competition interface, on existence, uniqueness, and coalescence of directional semi-infinite geodesics, and on nonexistence of doubly infinite geodesics.
In this survey article we consider the directed last-passage percolation model on the planar square lattice with nearest-neighbor steps and general i.i.d. weights on the vertices, outside of the class of exactly solvable models. We show how stationary cocycles are constructed from queueing fixed points and how these cocycles characterize the limit shape, yield existence of Busemann functions in directions where the shape has some regularity, describe the direction of the competition interface, and answer questions on existence, uniqueness, and coalescence of directional semi-infinite geodesics…
We consider statistical mechanics models of continuous height effective interfaces in the presence of a delta-pinning at height zero. There is a detailed mathematical understanding of the depinning transition in 2 dimensions without disorder. Then the variance of the interface height w.r.t. the Gibbs measure stays bounded uniformly in the volume for any positive pinning force and diverges like the logarithm of the pinning force when it tends to zero. How does the presence of a quenched disorder term in the Hamiltonian modify this transition? We show that an arbitarily weak random field term is…
We consider - in uniformly strictly convex potential regime - two versions of random gradient models with disorder. In model (A) the interface feels a bulk term of random fields while in model (B) the disorder enters though the potential acting on the gradients. We assume a general distribution on the disorder with uniformly-bounded finite second moments. It is well known that for gradient models without disorder there are no Gibbs measures in infinite-volume in dimension $d = 2$, while there are shift-invariant gradient Gibbs measures describing an infinite-volume distribution for the gradien…
We consider a gradient interface model on the lattice with interaction potential which is a nonconvex perturbation of a convex potential. Using a technique which decouples the neighboring vertices sites into even and odd vertices, we show for a class of non-convex potentials: the uniqueness of ergodic component for \nablaϕ-Gibbs measures, the decay of covariances, the scaling limit and the strict convexity of the surface tension.
We study a continuous-time random walk on $\mathbb{Z}^d$ in an environment of random conductances taking values in $(0,\infty)$. For a static environment, we extend the quenched local limit theorem to the case of a general speed measure, given suitable ergodicity and moment conditions on the conductances and on the speed measure. Under stronger moment conditions, an annealed local limit theorem is also derived. Furthermore, an annealed local limit theorem is exhibited in the case of time-dependent conductances, under analogous moment and ergodicity assumptions. This dynamic local limit theorem…
A discrete gradient model for interfaces is studied. The interaction potential is a non-convex perturbation of the quadratic gradient potential. Based on a representation for the finite volume Gibbs measure obtained via a renormalization group analysis by Adams, Kotecký and Müller in [AKM] it is proven that the scaling limit is a continuum massless Gaussian free field. From probabilistic point of view, this is a Central Limit Theorem for strongly dependent random fields. Additionally, the convergence of covariances, smoothed on a scale smaller than the system size, is proven.
The invariant measure of a one-dimensional Allen-Cahn equation with an additive space-time white noise is studied. This measure is absolutely continuous with respect to a Brownian bridge with a density which can be interpreted as a potential energy term. We consider the sharp interface limit in this setup. In the right scaling this corresponds to a Gibbs type measure on a growing interval with decreasing temperature. Our main result is that in the limit we still see exponential convergence towards a curve of minimizers of the energy if the interval does not grow too fast. In the original scali…
We introduce {\em quadri-tilings} and show that they are in bijection with dimer models on a {\em family} of graphs $\{R^*\}$ arising from rhombus tilings. Using two height functions, we interpret a sub-family of all quadri-tilings, called {\em triangular quadri-tilings}, as an interface model in dimension 2+2. Assigning "critical" weights to edges of $R^*$, we prove an explicit expression, only depending on the local geometry of the graph $R^*$, for the minimal free energy per fundamental domain Gibbs measure; this solves a conjecture of \cite{Kenyon1}. We also show that when edges of $R^*$ a…
We introduce a class of (2+1)-dimensional stochastic growth processes, that can be seen as irreversible random dynamics of discrete interfaces. "Irreversible" means that the interface has an average non-zero drift. Interface configurations correspond to height functions of dimer coverings of the infinite hexagonal or square lattice. The model can also be viewed as an interacting driven particle system and in the totally asymmetric case the dynamics corresponds to an infinite collection of mutually interacting Hammersley processes. When the dynamical asymmetry parameter $(p-q)$ equals zero, the…
We study "random surfaces," which are random real (or integer) valued functions on Z^d. The laws are determined by convex, nearest neighbor, difference potentials that are invariant under translation by a full-rank sublattice L of Z^d; they include many discrete and continuous height models (e.g., domino tilings, square ice, the harmonic crystal, the Ginzburg-Landau grad-phi interface model, the linear solid-on-solid model) as special cases. A gradient phase is an L-ergodic gradient Gibbs measure with finite specific free energy. A gradient phase is smooth if it is the gradient of an ordinary …
