Existence of random gradient states (Q453252)

The authors consider two versions of random gradient models: in model \(A\), the interface feels a bulk term of random fields, while, in model \(B\), disorder enters through the potential acting on the gradients, which are prototypical ways to add randomness preserving the gradient structure. These models can be regarded as modeling two different types of impurities, one affecting the interface height, the other affecting the interface gradient. A main question in interface models is whether the fluctuations of an interface that is restricted to a finite-volume will remain bounded when the volume tends to infinity, so that there is an infinite-volume Gibbs measure or gradient Gibbs measure describing a localized interface. The authors prove the existence of shift-covariant gradient Gibbs measures with a given tilt \(u\in\mathbb R^d\) for model \(A\) when \(d\geq 3\) and the disorder has mean zero, and for model \(B\) when \(d\geq1\). Also, when the disorder has nonzero mean in model \(A\), there are no shift-covariant gradient Gibbs measures for \(d\geq 3\).