Quasi‐polynomial mixing of critical two‐dimensional random cluster models

Abstract: We study the Glauber dynamics for the random cluster (FK) model on the torus

(m a t h b b Z / n m a t h b b Z)^{2}

with parameters

(p, q)

, for

q i n (1, 4]

and

p

the critical point

p_{c}

. The dynamics is believed to undergo a critical slowdown, with its continuous-time mixing time transitioning from

O (l o g n)

for

p e q p_{c}

to a power-law in

n

at

p = p_{c}

. This was verified at

p e q p_{c}

by Blanca and Sinclair, whereas at the critical

p = p_{c}

, with the exception of the special integer points

q = 2, 3, 4

(where the model corresponds to the Ising/Potts models) the best-known upper bound on mixing was exponential in

n

. Here we prove an upper bound of

n^{O (l o g n)}

at

p = p_{c}

for all

q i n (1, 4]

, where a key ingredient is bounding the number of nested long-range crossings at criticality.

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