Continuous phase transitions on Galton-Watson trees

DOI10.1017/S0963548321000237MaRDI QIDQ6345958arXivFDO

Publication date 27 July 2020

Interacting random processes; statistical mechanics type models; percolation theory (60K35) Branching processes (Galton-Watson, birth-and-death, etc.) (60J80) Phase transitions (general) in equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B26)

Abstract: Distinguishing between continuous and first-order phase transitions is a major challenge in random discrete systems. We study the topic for events with recursive structure on Galton-Watson trees. For example, let

m a t h c a l T_{1}

be the event that a Galton-Watson tree is infinite, and let

m a t h c a l T_{2}

be the event that it contains an infinite binary tree starting from its root. These events satisfy similar recursive properties:

m a t h c a l T_{1}

holds if and only if

m a t h c a l T_{1}

holds for at least one of the trees initiated by children of the root, and

m a t h c a l T_{2}

holds if and only if

m a t h c a l T_{2}

holds for at least two of these trees. The probability of

m a t h c a l T_{1}

has a continuous phase transition, increasing from 0 when the mean of the child distribution increases above 1. On the other hand, the probability of

m a t h c a l T_{2}

has a first-order phase transition, jumping discontinuously to a nonzero value at criticality. Given the recursive property satisfied by the event, we describe the critical child distributions where a continuous phase transition takes place. In many cases, we also characterize the event undergoing the phase transition.

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