Markov fields on branching planes (Q1824296)

We investigate Ising models indexed by the sites of a branching plane \({\mathbb{T}}\times {\mathbb{Z}}\), which is the product of a regular tree \({\mathbb{T}}\) and the line \({\mathbb{Z}}\). There are three parameter regimes corresponding to: (1) a unique Gibbs distribution; (2) nonunique Gibbs distributions with treelike structure - the free boundary condition field is not a mixture of the plus and minus b.c. fields; (3) nonunique Gibbs distributions with planelike structure - the free b.c. field is a mixture of the plus and minus b.c. fields. Our analysis is based on earlier work by Grimmett and Newman concerning independent percolation on \({\mathbb{T}}\times {\mathbb{Z}}\), the Fortuin-Kasteleyn representation of Ising (and Potts) systems as dependent percolation models, and a ``finite island'' property of percolation models on \({\mathbb{T}}\times {\mathbb{Z}}\).