Uniqueness and non-uniqueness in percolation theory

This paper is an up-to-date introduction to the problem of uniqueness versus non-uniqueness of infinite clusters for percolation on ${\mathbb{Z}}^d$ and, more generally, on transitive graphs. For iid percolation on ${\mathbb{Z}}^d$, uniqueness of the infinite cluster is a classical result, while on certain other transitive graphs uniqueness may fail. Key properties of the graphs in this context turn out to be amenability and nonamenability. The same problem is considered for certain dependent percolation models -- most prominently the Fortuin--Kasteleyn random-cluster model -- and in situations where the standard connectivity notion is replaced by entanglement or rigidity. So-called simultaneous uniqueness in couplings of percolation processes is also considered. Some of the main results are proved in detail, while for others the proofs are merely sketched, and for yet others they are omitted. Several open problems are discussed.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/154957806000000096 in the Probability Surveys (http://www.i-journals.org/ps/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

A nonamenable "factor" of a Euclidean space

Answering a question of Benjamini, we present an isometry-invariant random partition of the Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^d$, $d\geq 3$, into infinite connected indistinguishable pieces, such that the adjacency graph defined on the pieces is the 3-regular infinite tree. Along the way, it is proved that any finitely generated one-ended amenable Cayley graph can be represented in $\mathbb{R}^d$ as an isometry-invariant random partition of $\mathbb{R}^d$ to bounded polyhedra, and also as an isometry-invariant random partition of $\mathbb{R}^d$ to indistinguishable pieces. A new technique is developed to prove indistinguishability for certain constructions, connecting this notion to factor of iid's.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figure

The speed of biased random walk among random conductances

We consider biased random walk among iid, uniformly elliptic conductances on $\mathbb{Z}^d$, and investigate the monotonicity of the velocity as a function of the bias. It is not hard to see that if the bias is large enough, the velocity is increasing as a function of the bias. Our main result is that if the disorder is small, i.e. all the conductances are close enough to each other, the velocity is always strictly increasing as a function of the bias, see Theorem 1. A crucial ingredient of the proof is a formula for the derivative of the velocity, which can be written as a covariance, see Theorem 3: it follows along the lines of the proof of the Einstein relation in [GGN]. On the other hand, we give a counterexample showing that for iid, uniformly elliptic conductances, the velocity is not always increasing as a function of the bias. More precisely, if $d=2$ and if the conductances take the values $1$ (with probability $p$) and $\kappa$ (with probability $1-p$) and $p$ is close enough to $1$ and $\kappa$ small enough, the velocity is not increasing as a function of the bias, see Theorem 2

Factors of IID on Trees

Classical ergodic theory for integer-group actions uses entropy as a complete invariant for isomorphism of IID (independent, identically distributed) processes (a.k.a. product measures). This theory holds for amenable groups as well. Despite recent spectacular progress of Bowen, the situation for non-amenable groups, including free groups, is still largely mysterious. We present some illustrative results and open questions on free groups, which are particularly interesting in combinatorics, statistical physics, and probability. Our results include bounds on minimum and maximum bisection for random cubic graphs that improve on all past bounds.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur