Some Cluster Size and Percolation Problems

Abstract

The problem of cluster size distribution and percolation on a regular lattice or graph of bonds and sites is reviewed and its applications to dilute ferromagnetism, polymer gelation, etc., briefly discussed. The cluster size and percolation problems are then solved exactly for Bethe lattices (infinite homogeneous Cayley trees) and for a wide class of pseudolattices derived by replacing the bonds and/or sites of a Bethe lattice by arbitrary finite subgraphs. Explicit expressions are given for the critical probability (density), for the mean cluster size, and for the density of infinite clusters. The nature of the critical anomalies is shown to be the same for all lattices discussed; in particular, the density of infinite clusters vanishes as R(p) ≈ C(p−pc) (p≥pc).