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# Asymptotic shape for the chemical distance and first-passage percolation in random environment

## 1. Notations, definitions and preliminary lemmas

### The percolation structure

Let us first construct a Bernoulli percolation structure on $`^d`$. Consider the graph whose vertices are the points of $`^d`$, and put a non-oriented edge between each pair $`(x,y)`$ of points in $`^d`$ such that the Euclidean distance between $`x`$ and $`y`$ is equal to $`1`$. Two such points are called neighbours. This set of edges is denoted by $`𝔼^d`$.

Set $`\mathrm{\Omega }_E=\{0,1\}^{𝔼^d}`$. In the whole paper, $`p`$ is supposed to satisfy to

$$p(p_c,1],$$

where $`p_c=p_c(d)`$ is the critical threshold for bond percolation on $`^d`$. We denote by $`_p`$ the product probability $`(p\delta _1+(1p)\delta _0)^{𝔼^d}`$.

A point $`\omega `$ in $`\mathrm{\Omega }_E`$ is a random environment for the first passage percolation. An edge $`e𝔼^d`$ is said to be open in the environment $`\omega `$ if $`\omega (e)=1`$, and closed otherwise. The states of the different edges are thus independent under $`_p`$ .

A path is a sequence $`\gamma =(x_1,e_1,x_2,e_2,\mathrm{},x_n,e_n,x_{n+1})`$ such that $`x_i`$ and $`x_{i+1}`$ are neighbours and $`e_i`$ is the edge between $`x_i`$ and $`x_{i+1}`$. We will also sometimes describe $`\gamma `$ only by the vertices it visits $`\gamma =(x_1,x_2,\mathrm{},x_n,x_{n+1})`$ or by its edges $`\gamma =(e_1,e_2,\mathrm{},e_n)`$. The number $`n`$ of edges in $`\gamma `$ is called the length of $`\gamma `$ and is denoted by $`|\gamma |`$. Moreover, we will only consider simple paths for which the visited vertices are all distinct. A path is said to be open in the environment $`\omega `$ if all its edges are open in $`\omega `$.

The clusters of a environment $`\omega `$ are the connected components of the graph induced on $`^d`$ by the open edges in $`\omega `$. For $`x`$ in $`^d`$, we denote by $`C(x)`$ the cluster containing $`x`$. In other words, $`C(x)`$ is the set of points in $`^d`$ that are linked to $`x`$ by an open path. We note $`xy`$ to signify that $`x`$ and $`y`$ belong to the same cluster. For $`p>p_c`$, there exists almost surely one and only one infinite cluster. We denote by $`C_{\mathrm{}}`$ the random set: $`C_{\mathrm{}}=\{k^d;|C(k)|=+\mathrm{}\}`$. Note that $`C_{\mathrm{}}`$ is almost surely connected.

Since $`p>p_c`$, we have $`_p(0C_{\mathrm{}})>0`$. In our first-passage percolation context, it is natural to work on the infinite cluster. Thus we introduce the conditioned probability measure $`\overline{}_p`$ on $`\mathrm{\Omega }_E`$ by

$$\overline{}_p(A)=\frac{_p(A\{0C_{\mathrm{}}\})}{_p(0C_{\mathrm{}})}.$$

### The passage times

We give now to each edge of the graph $`^d`$ a passage time, which represents the time needed by a fluid to cross the edge. Consider thus $`\mathrm{\Omega }_S=_+^{𝔼^d}`$, and a probability measure $`S_\nu `$ on $`\mathrm{\Omega }_S`$. We use the abusive notation $`S_\nu `$ to help the reader to keep in mind the case of a product measure $`S_\nu =\nu ^{𝔼^d}`$, although we will consider the weaker assumption that $`S_\nu `$ is a stationary ergodic probability measure – see below for a precise definition.

### The probability space

Our probability space will then be $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\mathrm{\Omega }_E\times \mathrm{\Omega }_S`$. A point in $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ will be denoted $`(\omega ,\eta )`$, with $`\omega `$ corresponding to the environment and $`\eta `$ assigning to each edge a passage time. On $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, we consider the probability $`=_pS_\nu `$ and its conditioned version:

$$\overline{}=\overline{}_pS_\nu .$$

### The two distances

We first introduce the chemical distance $`D(x,y)(\omega )`$ between $`x`$ and $`y`$ in $`^d`$, depending only on the Bernoulli percolation structure $`\omega `$:

$$D(x,y)(\omega )=\underset{\gamma }{inf}|\gamma |,$$

where the infimum is taken on the set of paths whose extremities are $`x`$ and $`y`$ and that are open in the environment $`\omega `$. It is of course only defined when $`x`$ and $`y`$ are in the same percolation cluster. Otherwise, we set by convention $`D(x,y)=+\mathrm{}`$. The distance $`D(x,y)`$ is thus, when it is finite, the minimal number of open edges needed to link $`x`$ and $`y`$ in the environment $`\omega `$. We denote by $`\gamma (x,y)`$ an open path between $`x`$ and $`y`$ with this minimal number of edges. When necessary, we can define uniquely $`\gamma (x,y)`$ by choosing on order on the set of edges $`𝔼^d`$ and taking the minimal such path for the lexical order on the edges of the path.

For $`(\omega ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }`$, and $`(x,y)^d\times ^d`$, we define the travel time $`d(x,y)(\omega ,\eta )`$ to be

$$\underset{\gamma }{inf}\underset{e\gamma }{}\eta _e,$$

where the infimum is taken on the set of paths whose extremities are $`x`$ and $`y`$ and that are open in the environment $`\omega `$. Of course $`d(x,y)=+\mathrm{}`$ if and only if $`D(k,l)=+\mathrm{}`$. It follows that the event $`\{d(k,l)<+\mathrm{}\}`$ only depends on the Bernoulli percolation structure $`\omega `$. For $`t0`$, we note

$$B_t=\{k^d;d(0,k)t\}.$$

It is the random set of points that can be reached from the origin in a time smaller than $`t`$, and it is a non-decreasing random set in $`t`$.

### Usual definitions and results in ergodic theory

We recall here some classical definitions, notations and results in ergodic theory which can be found in any course – see for instance the book written by Brown \[Bro76\].

Consider a probability space $`(\mathrm{\Omega },,𝒬)`$. A map $`\theta :\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is said to be a measure-preserving transformation if for each $`A`$, $`𝒬(\theta ^1(A))=𝒬(A)`$. The quadruple $`(\mathrm{\Omega },,𝒬,\theta )`$ is then called a dynamical system.

For any measurable set $`A`$, we can define the entrance time in $`A`$:

$$n_A(x)=inf\{n1;\theta ^nxA\}.$$

The well-known recurrence theorem of Poincaré ensures that for $`𝒬`$ almost every $`\omega A`$, $`\{n1;\theta ^nxA\}`$ in infinite.

If every subset of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ which is invariant by $`\theta `$ has probability $`0`$ or $`1`$, we say that $`\theta `$ is ergodic for $`𝒬`$. When $`\theta `$ is ergodic, the mean entrance time is given by Kac’s formula:

$$_An_A𝑑𝒬=1.$$

For a set $`A`$ such that $`𝒬(A)>0`$, the entrance time in $`A`$ induces a transformation $`\theta _A:\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Omega }`$ defined by $`\theta _A(\omega )=\theta ^{n_A(\omega )}(\omega )`$. Of course, $`\theta _A`$ is in general only defined for almost every $`\omega A`$ – this is a consequence of the recurrence theorem – but its definition may be extended to $`A`$. If $`𝒬_A`$ is defined by $`𝒬_A(B)=\frac{𝒬(AB)}{𝒬(A)}`$, the following results hold:

* If $`\theta `$ is a $`𝒬`$-preserving transformation, then $`\theta _A`$ is a $`𝒬_A`$-preserving transformation.
* If $`\theta `$ is ergodic for $`𝒬`$, then $`\theta _A`$ is ergodic for $`𝒬_A`$.

Note that Kac’s formula can here be rewritten in the following form:

$$_\mathrm{\Omega }n_A𝑑𝒬_A=\frac{1}{𝒬(A)}.$$

### The translation operators

###### Definition 1.1.

For any set $`X`$, and $`u^d`$, we define the translation operator $`\theta _u`$ on $`X^{𝔼^d}`$ by the relation

$$e𝔼^d(\theta _u\omega )_e=\omega _{u.e},$$

where $`u.e`$ denotes the natural action of $`^d`$ on $`𝔼^d`$: if $`e=\{a,b\}`$, then $`u.e=\{a+u,b+u\}`$.

In the whole paper, the measure $`S_\nu `$ which describes the passage time is supposed to be an ergodic measure preserving the $`^d`$ actions $`(\theta _u)_{u^d}`$. It means that for each $`u^d`$, $`(\mathrm{\Omega }_S,(\mathrm{\Omega }_S),S_\nu ,\theta _u)`$ is an ergodic dynamical system. This covers of course the case of a product measure $`S_\nu =\nu ^{𝔼^d}`$.

Since $`S_\nu `$ is invariant under the action of $`^d`$, the law of the passage time of a given edge only depends from its direction. Let us denote by $`(e_1,\mathrm{},e_d)`$ the canonical basis of $`^d`$. In the whole paper, we will suppose that

| $`(H_{\text{int}})`$ | $`m=\begin{array}{c}\\ sup\\ 1id\end{array}{\displaystyle \eta _{(0,e_i)}𝑑S_\nu (\eta )}=\begin{array}{c}\\ sup\\ e𝔼^d\end{array}{\displaystyle \eta _e𝑑S_\nu (\eta )}<+\mathrm{}.`$ |
| --- | --- |

When needed, we will suppose that $`S_\nu `$ satisfies to

| $`(H_\alpha )`$ | $`A,B>0\text{such that }\mathrm{\Lambda }𝔼^dS_\nu \left(\eta \mathrm{\Omega }_S;{\displaystyle \underset{e\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}}\eta _iB|\mathrm{\Lambda }|\right){\displaystyle \frac{A}{|\mathrm{\Lambda }|^\alpha }}`$ |
| --- | --- |

for an appropriate value of $`\alpha `$. Assumption $`(H_\alpha )`$ is in fact a combination between assumptions on the moments and assumptions on the dependence between the passage times of distinct edges.

For instance, if $`S_\nu `$ is the product measure $`\nu ^{𝔼^d}`$, assumption $`(H_\alpha )`$ follows from the Marcinkiewicz-Zygmund inequality as soon as the passage time of an edge has a moment of order $`2\alpha `$ – see e.g. Theorem 3.7.8 in \[Sto74\]. Note that obviously, $`(H_\alpha )`$ is always fulfilled when the passage times are bounded.

###### Definition 1.2.

For each $`u^d\backslash \{0\}`$, let $`T_u(\omega )=inf\{n1;nuC_{\mathrm{}}(\omega )\}`$ and define the random translation operator on $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\mathrm{\Omega }_E\times \mathrm{\Omega }_S`$

$$\mathrm{\Theta }_u(\omega ,\eta )=(\theta _u^{T_u(\omega )}(\omega ),\theta _u^{T_u(\omega )}(\eta )).$$

Note that $`T_u`$ only depends on the environment $`\omega `$, and not on the passage times $`\eta `$, whereas the operator $`\mathrm{\Theta }_u`$ acts on the whole configuration $`(\omega ,\eta )`$. The new configuration $`\mathrm{\Theta }_u(\omega ,\eta )`$ is the initial configuration viewed from the first point of the form $`nu`$ to be in the infinite cluster.

###### Lemma 1.3.

$`\mathrm{\Theta }_u`$ is a $`\overline{}`$-preserving transformation. Moreover, $`\mathrm{\Theta }_u`$ is ergodic for $`\overline{}`$ and

$$𝔼_\overline{}T_u=\frac{1}{_p(0C_{\mathrm{}})}.$$

###### Proof.

Let $`u^d`$. The dynamical system $`(\mathrm{\Omega },(\mathrm{\Omega }),,\theta _u)`$ is the direct product of the mixing system $`(\mathrm{\Omega }_E,(\mathrm{\Omega }_E),_p,\theta _u)`$ by the ergodic system $`(\mathrm{\Omega }_S,(\mathrm{\Omega }_S),S_\nu ,\theta _u)`$. Since the product of a weakly mixing system and an ergodic system is ergodic – see for instance proposition 1.6 of Brown \[Bro76\] – , it follows that $`\theta _u`$ is ergodic for $``$. It is easy to see that $`\mathrm{\Theta }_u`$ is the transformation induced by $`\theta _u`$ on the set $`A=\{0C_{\mathrm{}}\}\times \mathrm{\Omega }_S`$. Since $`(A)=_p(0C_{\mathrm{}})S_\nu (\mathrm{\Omega }_S)=_p(0C_{\mathrm{}})>0`$, the announced result follows from the classical results of ergodic theory. ∎

###### Definition 1.4.

Let us define for $`n1`$

$$T_{n,u}(\omega )=\underset{k=0}{\overset{n1}{}}T_u(\mathrm{\Theta }_u^k\omega ).$$

Remark that $`T_{n,u}`$ represents the position of the $`n^{\text{th}}`$ intersection of the infinite cluster with the half line $`_+^{}u`$.

###### Lemma 1.5.

$`{\displaystyle \frac{T_{n,u}}{n}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0C_{\mathrm{}})}}\overline{}\text{ a.s.}`$

###### Proof.

Since $`\mathrm{\Theta }_u`$ is ergodic for $`\overline{}`$, this immediately follows from the pointwise ergodic theorem. ∎

## 2. Estimations on the chemical distance and travel times

We first recall the fundamental result of Antal and Pisztora (Theorem 1.1 in \[AP96\]): If $`p>p_c(d)`$, there exist a constant $`\rho =\rho (p,d)[1,+\mathrm{})`$ and two strictly positive constants $`A`$ and $`B`$ such that:

(1)
$$y^d,_p(0y,D(0,y)>\rho y_1)A\mathrm{exp}(By_1).$$

Note that if $`y=(y_1,\mathrm{},y_d)^d`$, $`y_1`$ is defined as follows: $`y_1=_{i=1}^d|y_i|`$.

###### Lemma 2.1.

If $`(H_\alpha )`$ holds with two positive constants $`A`$ and $`B`$, and if $`\rho `$ is the constant given by (1), then there exists a positive constant $`A^{}`$ such that

$$x^d,(0x;d(0,x)B\rho x_1)\frac{A^{}}{x_1^\alpha }.$$

###### Proof.

Let $`x^d`$. By definition, $`d(0,x)_{e\gamma (0,x)}\eta (e)`$. Then

$$(0x;d(0,x)B\rho x_1(0x;\underset{e\gamma (0,x)}{}\eta (e)B\rho x_1).$$

We can now cut this probability in two pieces:

$`(0x;{\displaystyle \underset{e\gamma (0,x)}{}}\eta (e)B\rho x_1)`$
$``$ $`(0x;D(0,x)\rho x_1;{\displaystyle \underset{e\gamma (0,x)}{}}\eta (e)B\rho x_1)+(0x;D(0,x)>\rho x_1).`$
Note that we already know that the second term decreases exponentially fast thanks to (1); for the first one, we have:

$`(0x;D(0,x)\rho x_1;{\displaystyle \underset{e\gamma (0,x)}{}}\eta (e)B\rho x_1)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\gamma ,|\gamma |\rho x_1}{}}(0x;\gamma (0,x)=\gamma ;{\displaystyle \underset{e\gamma }{}}\eta (e)B\rho x_1)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\gamma ,|\gamma |\rho x_1}{}}_p(0x;\gamma (0,x)=\gamma )S_\nu ({\displaystyle \underset{e\gamma }{}}\eta (e)B\rho x_1)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\gamma ,|\gamma |\rho x_1}{}}_p(0x;\gamma (0,x)=\gamma )S_\nu ({\displaystyle \underset{e\gamma }{}}\eta (e)B|\gamma |)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\gamma ,|\gamma |\rho x_1}{}}_p(0x;\gamma (0,x)=\gamma ){\displaystyle \frac{A}{\gamma ^\alpha }}\text{ with Hypothesis (}H_\alpha \text{)}`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{A_p(0x)}{x_1^\alpha }}\text{ as }|\gamma (0,x)|x_1.`$
###### Lemma 2.2.

There exists two positive constants $`A^{},B^{}`$, depending only on the dimension $`d`$, such that for every $`r>0`$, for every $`x^d`$ such that $`x_1r`$,

$$_p(0x;D(0,x)(3r)^d)A^{}\mathrm{exp}(B^{}r).$$

###### Proof.

Take $`\rho ,A,B`$ as given by (1). Assume that $`r\mathrm{max}\{2,\left({\displaystyle \frac{10\rho }{3^d}}\right)^{\frac{1}{d1}}\}`$. Take $`x^d`$ such that $`x_1r`$.

We denote by $`B(r)`$ the cube $`[5r/4,5r/4]^d^d`$. As the segment $`[a,b]`$ contains at most $`ba+1`$ integer points, $`|B(r)|(\frac{5r}{2}+1)^d,`$ and, as $`r2`$, $`|B(r)|<(3r)^d`$. Denote by $`B(r)`$ the external boundary of $`B(r)`$, defined as the set of points in $`^dB(r)^c`$ that admit a neighbour in $`B(r)`$. Note that $`xB(r)`$ and that if $`yB(r)`$, then $`xy_1\frac{r}{4}`$.

Assume that $`D(0,x)>(3r)^d`$, then $`D(0,x)>|B(r)|`$, and then $`\gamma (0,x)`$ must visit at least one point in $`B(r)`$:

$`(0x,D(0,x)(3r)^d)`$
$``$ $`(yB(r)\text{ such that }0y,yx,D(0,y){\displaystyle \frac{(3r)^d}{2}}\text{ or }D(x,y){\displaystyle \frac{(3r)^d}{2}})`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{yB(r)}{}}(0y,D(0,y){\displaystyle \frac{(3r)^d}{2}})+(xy,D(x,y){\displaystyle \frac{(3r)^d}{2}}).`$
But $`{\displaystyle \frac{(3r)^d}{2}}5\rho r\rho \mathrm{max}\{x_1,xy_1\}`$, and thus

$`(0x,D(0,x)(3r)^d)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{yB(r)}{}}(0y,D(0,y)\rho x_1)+(xy,D(x,y)\rho xy_1).`$
But $`\mathrm{min}\{x_1,xy_1\}\frac{r}{4}`$ and using (1) we get:

$`(0x,D(0,x)(3r)^d)`$ $``$ $`2{\displaystyle \underset{yB(r)}{}}A\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{Br}{4}}\right)`$
$``$ $`2(2d)(5r/2+1)^{d1}A\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{Br}{4}}\right).`$
This ends the proof of the lemma. ∎

###### Lemma 2.3.

If $`(H_\alpha )`$ holds, then there exist positive constants $`a`$ and $`A^{}`$, depending only of the dimension $`d`$ of the grid, such that for every $`r>0`$, for every $`x^d`$ satisfying $`x_1r`$,

$$(0x,d(0,x)ar^d)\frac{A^{}}{r^\nu },$$

with $`\nu =\alpha d+1`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`b>0`$ be a constant that will be fixed later. Denote by $`B_r`$ the cube $`[(1+b)r,(1+b)r]^dZ^d`$, and by $`_{ext}B_r`$ the set of points in $`^d\backslash B_r`$ that admit a neighbour inside $`B_r`$. We have

$$|B_r|(2(1+b)r+1)^d.$$

Denote by $`n_e(B_r)`$ the number of edges thqt have their two extremities in $`B_r`$. Then

$$d(2(1+b)r2)^dn_e(B_r)d(2(1+b)r)^d.$$

Now, let $`A`$ and $`B`$ be the two constants given by Hypothesis $`(H_\alpha )`$, and choose $`a>0`$ such that

$$r>0,a^d>Bd(2(1+b)r)^d.$$

Take $`x^d`$ such that $`x_1r`$. Note that $`xB_n`$. Now,

$`(0x,d(0,x)ar^d)`$
$`=`$ $`(0x,d(0,x)ar^d\text{ and }{\displaystyle \underset{eB_r}{}}\eta _e<Bd(2(1+b)r)^d)`$
$`+(0x,d(0,x)ar^d\text{ and }{\displaystyle \underset{eB_r}{}}\eta _eBd(2(1+b)r)^d)`$
$``$ $`(y_{ext}B_n\text{ such that }0y,yx,d(0,y){\displaystyle \frac{ar^d}{2}}\text{ or }d(x,y){\displaystyle \frac{ar^d}{2}})`$
$`+\left({\displaystyle \underset{eB_r}{}}\eta _eBn_e(B_r)\right).`$
By Hypothesis $`(H_\alpha )`$, the last term is smaller than $`{\displaystyle \frac{A}{n_e(B_r)^\alpha }}`$. Note moreover that for $`r`$ large enough:

$$B\rho y_1B\rho ((1+b)r+1)ar^d/2\text{ and }y_1br$$

$$B\rho xy_1B\rho ((1+b)r+1)ar^d/2\text{ and }yx_1br.$$

Thus

$`(y_{ext}B_r\text{ such that }0y,yx,d(0,y){\displaystyle \frac{ar^d}{2}}\text{ or }d(x,y){\displaystyle \frac{ar^d}{2}})`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{y_{ext}B_r}{}}(0y,d(0,y){\displaystyle \frac{ar^d}{2}})+(xy,d(x,y){\displaystyle \frac{ar^d}{2}})`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{y_{ext}B_r}{}}(0y,d(0,y)B\rho y_1)+(xy,d(x,y)B\rho xy_1)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{y_{ext}B_r}{}}A({\displaystyle \frac{1}{y_1^\alpha }}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{xy_1^\alpha }})\text{ with Lemma }\text{2.1}`$
$``$ $`2d(2(1+b)r+1)^{d1}{\displaystyle \frac{A}{(br)^\alpha }}.`$
###### Lemma 2.4.

There exist a function $`\psi :^d^+`$ satisfying $`lim_{u_1+\mathrm{}}\psi (u)=0`$, and such that

$$u^d,𝔼_{\overline{}_p}(D(0,T_uu))\frac{u_1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}(\rho +\psi (u)).$$

###### Proof.

Remember the following identity:

$$𝔼_{\overline{}_p}\frac{D(0,T_uu)}{u}=_0^+\mathrm{}\overline{}_p(D(0,T_uu)hu)𝑑h,$$

and cut $`𝔼_\overline{}(D(0,T_uu))`$ in three terms, according to the values of $`T_u`$. Let us estimate first the contribution for $`T_u`$ small:

$`S_1(h,u)`$ $`=`$ $`\overline{}_p\left(D(0,T_uu)hu_1,T_u{\displaystyle \frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}_p\left(D(0,T_uu)hu_1,T_u{\displaystyle \frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{k\frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}}{}}_p(0ku,D(0,ku)hu_1,T_u=k)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{k\frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}}{}}_p(0ku,D(0,ku)hu_1).`$
But as $`k{\displaystyle \frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}}`$, we have $`hu_1(3ku_1)^d`$ and thus, by the previous lemma,

$`S_1(h,u)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{k\frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}}{}}_p(0ku,D(0,ku)(3ku_1)^d)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}}A^{}\mathrm{exp}\left(B^{}{\displaystyle \frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3}}\right).`$
Now, $`_^+S_1(h,u)𝑑h`$ is finite, and there exists a constant $`C_1`$, independent from $`u`$, such that

$`{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}S_1(h,u)𝑑h`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}}A^{}\mathrm{exp}\left(B^{}{\displaystyle \frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3}}\right)𝑑h`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \frac{A^{}}{3u_1^2}}{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}x^{1/d}\mathrm{exp}\left(B^{}{\displaystyle \frac{x^{1/d}}{3}}\right)𝑑x`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{C_1}{u_1^2}}.`$
Let us now estimate the contribution for $`T_u`$ medium:

$`S_2(h,u)`$ $`=`$ $`\overline{}_p\left(D(0,T_uu)hu_1,{\displaystyle \frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}}<T_u{\displaystyle \frac{h}{\rho }}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}_p\left(D(0,T_uu)hu_1,{\displaystyle \frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}}<T_u{\displaystyle \frac{h}{\rho }}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{\frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}<k\frac{h}{\rho }}{}}_p\left(D(0,T_uu)hu_1,T_u=k\right)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{\frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}<k\frac{h}{\rho }}{}}_p(0ku,D(0,ku)hu_1)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{\frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}<k\frac{h}{\rho }}{}}_p(0ku,D(0,ku)\rho ku_1)`$
and with (1):
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \underset{\frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3u_1}<k\frac{h}{\rho }}{}}A\mathrm{exp}\left(Bku_1\right)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \frac{h}{\rho }}A\mathrm{exp}\left(B{\displaystyle \frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3}}\right).`$
Thus, there exists a constant $`C_2`$, independent from $`u`$, such that

$`{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}S_2(h,u)𝑑h`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{h}{\rho }}A\mathrm{exp}\left(B{\displaystyle \frac{(hu_1)^{1/d}}{3}}\right)𝑑h`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{_p(0\mathrm{})}}{\displaystyle \frac{A}{\rho u_2}}{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}x^{1/d}\mathrm{exp}\left(B{\displaystyle \frac{x^{1/d}}{3}}\right)𝑑x`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{C_2}{u_1^2}}.`$
Finally, for $`T_u`$ large:

$`S_3(h,u)`$ $`=`$ $`\overline{}_p\left(D(0,T_uu)hu_1,T_u>{\displaystyle \frac{h}{\rho }}\right)`$
$``$ $`\overline{}_p\left(T_u>{\displaystyle \frac{h}{\rho }}\right)`$
and

$`{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}S_3(h,u)𝑑h`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}\overline{}_p\left(T_u>{\displaystyle \frac{h}{\rho }}\right)𝑑h`$
$``$ $`\rho 𝔼_{\overline{}_p}T_u\text{ with Lemma }\text{1.3}`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\rho }{_p(0\mathrm{})}}.`$
Putting these three pieces together, we get the announced result.

###### Corollary 2.5.

For every $`u^d\backslash \{0\}`$,

$$𝔼_\overline{}(d(0,T_uu))m𝔼_{\overline{}_p}(D(0,T_uu))<\mathrm{}.$$

###### Proof.

$`𝔼_\overline{}(d(0,T_uu))`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}𝔼_\overline{}(d(0,k)11_{\{T_u=k\}})`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}𝔼_\overline{}\left(11_{\{T_u=k\}}{\displaystyle \underset{e\gamma (0,ku)}{}}\eta (e)\right)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}𝔼_\overline{}\left(11_{\{T_u=k\}}𝔼_\overline{}\left({\displaystyle \underset{e\gamma (0,ku)}{}}\eta (e)|\omega \right)\right)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}𝔼_{\overline{}_p}\left(11_{\{T_u=k\}}mD(0,ku)\right)`$
$``$ $`m𝔼_{\overline{}_p}(D(0,T_uu)).`$
The result of the previous lemma gives then the integrability of $`d(0,T_uu)`$. ∎

## 3. Existence of directional speed constants and related properties

The next Lemma is the analogous of the first step in the classical study of first-passage percolation, that is the proof of the existence of an asymptotic speed in a given direction.

Unsurprisingly, the fundamental tool is here again Birkhof’s subadditive ergodic theorem. The main difference is that it is applied to an induced dynamical system, and not directly. It is the reason why checking the integrability (lemma 2.5) was more intricate than in the classical case.

###### Lemma 3.1.

For $`n0`$ and $`u^d\backslash \{0\}`$, we define the travel time $`f_{n,u}`$ between the origin and the $`n`$-th intersection of the infinite cluster with $`_+^{}u`$:

$$f_{n,u}(\omega ,\eta )=d(0,(T_{n,u}(\omega )u)(\omega ,\eta ).$$

Then there exists a constant $`f_u0`$ such that

$$\frac{f_{n,u}}{n}f_u\overline{}\text{ a.s.}$$

The convergence also holds in $`L^1(\overline{})`$. Moreover, $`f_u𝔼_\overline{}d(0,T_uu)`$.

###### Proof.

For the convenience of the reader, we now choose $`u^d\backslash \{0\}`$, and we write $`f_n`$ (*resp.* $`f`$, $`T_n`$, $`T`$) instead of $`f_{n,u}`$ (*resp.* $`f_u`$, $`T_{n,u}`$, $`T_u`$ ).

Note that the travel time is a sub-additive function, we thus have:

$`f_{n+k}`$ $`=`$ $`d(0,T_{n+k}u)`$
$``$ $`d(0,T_nu)+d(T_nu,T_{n+k}u)`$
$`=`$ $`d(0,T_nu)+d(0,T_ku)T_n`$
$`=`$ $`f_n+f_kT_n.`$
Moreover, the $`f_n`$ are non-negative and, thanks to lemma 1.3, $`\overline{}`$ is invariant under $`\mathrm{\Theta }_u`$. Then, as $`f_1`$ is integrable thanks to lemma 2.5, Birkhof’s sub-additive ergodic theorem says there exists a $`\mathrm{\Theta }_u`$-invariant function $`f`$ such that

$$\frac{f_n}{n}f\overline{}\text{ a.s.}\text{ and in }L^1(\overline{}).$$

Since $`\mathrm{\Theta }_u`$ is ergodic for $`\overline{}`$, every $`\mathrm{\Theta }_u`$-invariant function is $`\overline{}`$ almost surely constant, so $`f`$ is constant. Moreover, the deterministic sub-additive ergodic theorem ensures that

$$𝔼_\overline{}f=\underset{n0}{inf}\frac{𝔼_\overline{}f_n}{n}𝔼_\overline{}f_1=𝔼_\overline{}d(0,T_u).$$

We can now define a function $`\mu `$ which is exactly the analogous of the function that appears in the classical case.

###### Theorem 3.2.

Suppose that $`(H_\alpha )`$ holds for some $`\alpha >1`$. For each $`u^d\backslash \{0\}`$, we set $`\mu (u)=_p(0\mathrm{})f_u`$, where $`f_u`$ is given by the previous lemma, and $`\mu (0)=0`$. Then

$$\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{d(0,T_{n,u}u)}{T_{n,u}}=\mu (u)\overline{}\text{ a.s.}$$

Moreover, this function $`\mu :^d[0,\mathrm{})`$ has the following properties:

1. $`\mu `$ is symmetric: for any vector $`u^d`$: $`\mu (u)=\mu (u)`$.

If, moreover, $`S_\nu `$ is a product measure, then $`\mu `$ is invariant under permutations or reflections of the coordinates in $`^d`$.
2. $`\mu `$ is homogeneous, in the following sense: for any integer $`k`$ and any vector $`u^d`$:

$$\mu (ku)=|k|\mu (u).$$
3. $`\mu `$ is bounded, in the following sense: for any vector $`u^d`$:

$$\mu (u)\rho mu_1\text{ and }\mu (u)\mu _{}u_1,$$

with $`\mu _{}=sup_{1id}\mu (e_i)`$.
4. $`\mu `$ is sub-additive, in the following sense: for any vectors $`u`$ and $`v`$ in $`^d`$,

$$\mu (u+v)\mu (u)+\mu (v).$$
5. $`\mu `$ is continuous, in the following sense: for any vectors $`u`$ and $`v`$ in $`^d`$,

$$|\mu (u)\mu (v)|\mu _{}uv_1.$$

We delay the proof of this theorem to make some remarks and comments.

Remarks.

* We exactly recover the properties that the results of classical first-passage percolation let expect.
* Let us now discuss the meaning of the inequality $`\mu (u)\rho mu_1`$. In classical first-passage percolation, we would have the inequality $`\mu (u)mu_1`$. Roughly speaking, we can say that the additional factor $`\rho =\rho (p,d)`$ corresponds to the bound given by corollary 1.3 of Antal and Pisztora 1 for the asymptotic ratio between the chemical distance and the $`l_1`$ distance on $`^d`$:

(2)
$$\begin{array}{c}\\ \overline{lim}\\ y_1+\mathrm{}\end{array}\frac{D(0,y)}{y_1}11_{\{0y\}}\rho (p,d)_p\text{ a.s.}$$
* In the special case $`S_\nu =(\delta _1)^{𝔼^d}`$, the travel times coincide with the chemical distances. As a direct corollary of the previous theorem, we obtain the existence of asymptotic directed speeds for the chemical distance: For each $`y^d\backslash \{0\}`$, there exists a constant $`\mu (y)`$ such that

$$\underset{\begin{array}{c}n+\mathrm{}\\ 0ny\end{array}}{lim}\frac{D(0,ny)}{n}=\mu (y)_p\text{ a.s.}$$

Since $`\mu (y)\rho (p,d)y_1`$, this precises the equation (2) of Antal and Pisztora.

###### Proof.

Step 1. The convergence result is clear since $`T_{n,u}/n1/_p(0C_{\mathrm{}})`$ and $`f_{n,u}/nf_u0`$. Consequently, we obtain the identity $`\mu (u)=_p(0\mathrm{})f_u`$.

Step 2. It is easy to see that $`\frac{d(0,nu)}{n}`$ weakly converges to

$$_p(0\mathrm{})\delta _{f_u}+(1_p(0\mathrm{}))\delta _+\mathrm{}.$$

By translation invariance $`d(0,nu)=d(nu,0)`$ has the same law that $`d(0,nu)`$. It follows that $`f_u=f_u`$, and then that $`\mu (u)=\mu (u)`$.

When $`S_\nu `$ is a product measure, Property (1) is obvious since the whole model is invariant under permutations or reflections of the coordinates in $`^d`$.

Step 3. Let us prove now that for any integer $`k\backslash \{0\}`$ and any non null vector $`u^d`$, $`\mu (ku)=|k|\mu (u)`$. Note that

$$\frac{f_{n,ku}}{n}=|k|\frac{f_{n,ku}}{n|k|};$$

but $`(f_{n,ku}/n|k|)_{n1}`$ is a subsequence of $`(f_{n,\epsilon u}/n)_{n1}`$ with $`\epsilon =k/|k|`$. Thus

$$\underset{n+\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{f_{n,ku}}{n}=|k|\underset{n+\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{f_{n,\epsilon u}}{n}=|k|\mu (\epsilon u)=|k|\mu (u),$$

by the previous step.

Step 4. By the previous step $`\mu (u)=\frac{1}{n}\mu (nu)`$. Then

$`\mu (u)`$ $`=`$ $`\overline{}(0\mathrm{}){\displaystyle \frac{f_{nu}}{n}}`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{𝔼_\overline{}(d(0,T_{nu}nu)}{n}}\overline{}(0\mathrm{})`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m𝔼_\overline{}(D(0,T_{nu}nu)}{n}}\overline{}(0\mathrm{})`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m(\rho +\psi (nu)nu_1}{n}}\text{ by lemma }(\text{2.4})`$
$``$ $`m(\rho +\psi (nu)u_1`$
Since $`lim_{n+\mathrm{}}\psi (nu)=0`$, it follows that $`\mu (u)m\rho u_1`$. This proves the first part of (3).

Step 5. Let us now prove the sub-additive property of $`\mu `$. Let $`u`$ and $`v`$ be two fixed non null vectors in $`^d`$. The main difficulty here, compared to the classical proof in standard first-passage percolation (see Kesten) is that two given points in $`^d`$ are not linked by an open path in every configuration $`\omega `$.

###### Lemma 3.3.

Let $`x`$ and $`y`$ be two linearly independent vectors in $`^d`$. Then

$$\frac{1}{n}\underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{ky\mathrm{}\}}_p(0\mathrm{})^2\text{almost surely under }_p.$$

###### Proof.

Let $`\alpha =\frac{1}{3}\mathrm{min}(x_1,y_1,xy_1)`$ and define $`Z_k=11_{\{\alpha kC(kx)\}}11_{\{\alpha kC(ky)\}}`$.

$`_p(Z_k11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{ky\mathrm{}\}})`$ $``$ $`_p(\alpha k|C(kx)|<+\mathrm{})+_p(\alpha k|C(ky)|<+\mathrm{})`$
$``$ $`2_p(\alpha k|C(0)|<+\mathrm{}).`$
Since $`p>p_c`$, $`C(0)11_{\{|C(0)|<+\mathrm{}\}}`$ is integrable, and we get

$$\underset{k1}{}_p(Z_k11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{ky\mathrm{}\}})<+\mathrm{}.$$

Hence, Borel-Cantelli lemma ensures that, $`_p`$ almost surely, $`Z_k`$ coincides with $`11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{ky\mathrm{}\}}`$ for every $`k`$ large enough. It follows that $`\frac{1}{n}_{k=1}^n11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{ky\mathrm{}\}}`$ has the same behavior that $`\frac{1}{n}_{k=1}^nZ_k`$. But $`(Z_k)_{k1}`$ is a sequence of independent uniformly bounded random variables. Then

$$\frac{1}{n}\underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}\left(Z_k𝔼Z_k\right)0_p\text{ a.s.}$$

Since $`\alpha =\frac{1}{3}\mathrm{min}(x_1,y_1,xy_1)`$,

$$𝔼__pZ_k=𝔼__p11_{\{\alpha k|C(kx)|\}}𝔼__p11_{\{\alpha k|C(ky)|\}}=_p(\alpha kC(0))^2_p(0\mathrm{})^2,$$

and the results follows from Cesaro’s theorem. ∎

###### Lemma 3.4.

Suppose that there exists $`\alpha >1`$ such that $`(H_\alpha )`$ is fulfilled with two positive constants $`A`$ and $`B`$ and let $`\rho `$ be the constant given by (1). Let $`x`$ and $`y`$ be two linearly independent vectors in $`^d`$, and for $`k_+^{}`$, denote by $`A_k`$ the following event:

$$A_k=\{d(0,kx)B\rho kx_1,d(0,k(x+y))B\rho kx+y_1,d(kx,k(x+y))B\rho ky_1\}.$$

Then, almost surely under $``$, if

$`u_n`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{d(0,kx)}{k}}11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}},`$
then $`(u_n)_n`$ converges to $`\mu (x)11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}_p(0\mathrm{})^2`$ and moreover, $`(𝔼__p(u_n))_n`$ converges to $`\mu (x)_p(0\mathrm{})^3`$.

###### Proof.

Note first that

$`_p\left(11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`𝔼__p\left(11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}(111_{A_k})\right)`$
$``$ $`𝔼__p(11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}`$
$`\times (11_{\{d(0,kx)>B\rho kx_1\}}+11_{\{d(0,k(x+y))>B\rho kx+y_1\}}+11_{\{d(kx,k(x+y))>B\rho ky_1\}}))`$
$``$ $`_p(d(0,kx)>B\rho kx_1\text{ and }0kx)`$
$`+_p(d(0,k(x+y))>B\rho kx+y_1\text{ and }0k(x+y))`$
$`+_p(d(kx,k(x+y))>B\rho ky_1\text{ and }kxk(x+y))`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{A}{k^\alpha }}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{x_1^\alpha }}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{x+y_1^\alpha }}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{y_1^\alpha }}\right)\text{ with the previous lemma.}`$
Then, using Borel-Cantelli Lemma, we know that almost surely there exists $`K=K(\omega )>0`$ such that for any $`kK`$,

$$11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}=11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}.$$

Choose $`\epsilon >0`$. Then, as a consequence of the convergence result in Theorem 3.2, and enlarging $`K=K(\omega )`$ if necessary, one has, almost surely:

$$kK(\omega ),\left|\frac{d(0,kx)}{k}\mu (x)\right|11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}\epsilon .$$

Now, for every $`n`$:

$`|u_n\mu (x)11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}_p(0\mathrm{})^2|`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{K(\omega )1}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{d(0,kx)}{k}}11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}`$
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}{\displaystyle \underset{k=K(\omega )}{\overset{n}{}}}\left|{\displaystyle \frac{d(0,kx)}{k}}\mu (x)\right|11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}`$
$`+`$ $`\mu (x)|{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}{\displaystyle \underset{k=K(\omega )}{\overset{n}{}}}11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}_p(0\mathrm{})^2|.`$
But we can choose $`N(\omega )`$ large enough to ensure that if $`nN(\omega )`$, then the first term in the sum is smaller than $`\epsilon `$. The second one is smaller than $`\epsilon `$ thanks to the choice of $`K(\omega )`$. For the last term, remember that the choice of $`K(\omega )`$ ensures that for every $`kK(\omega )`$, we can forget the indicator function $`11_{A_k}`$. But then the previous lemma ensures the almost sure convergence to $`0`$ of the last term. This proves the desired almost-sure convergence.

To prove the convergence in mean, note that $`u_n\rho `$ and use the dominated convergence theorem. ∎

Let us now prove the sub-additive property of $`\mu `$. Note first that if $`x`$ and $`y`$ are linearly dependent, the inequality is in fact an equality thanks the the homogeneity property. Now, let $`x`$ and $`y`$ be two linearly independent vectors in $`^d`$. For every $`k1`$, let $`A_k`$ be the same event as the one defined in the previous lemma. Then, for every $`k1`$,

$`{\displaystyle \frac{d(0,k(x+y))}{k}}11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{d(0,kx)}{k}}11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}`$
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{d(kx,k(x+y))}{k}}11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}`$
Summing for $`1kn`$ and taking the means gives:

(3) $`𝔼__p\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{d(0,k(x+y))}{k}}11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}\right)`$
(4) $``$ $`𝔼__p\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{d(0,kx)}{k}}11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}\right)`$
(5) $`+`$ $`𝔼__p\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{d(kx,k(x+y))}{k}}11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}\right)`$
Thanks to the previous lemma, (3) and (4) converge respectively to $`\mu (x+y)_p(0\mathrm{})^3`$ and $`\mu (x)_p(0\mathrm{})^3`$. Moreover,

(5) $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}𝔼__p\left({\displaystyle \frac{d(kx,k(x+y))}{k}}11_{A_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{kx\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}𝔼__p\left({\displaystyle \frac{d(0,ky)}{k}}11_{B_k}11_{\{0\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{ky\mathrm{}\}}11_{\{k(x+y)\mathrm{}\}}\right),`$
where $`B_k`$ is the event

$$B_k=\{d(0,ky)\rho Bky,d(0,k(x+y))\rho Bkx+y,d(ky,k(x+y))\rho Bkx\}.$$

This was obtained by translating along the vector $`kx`$. Once again, the previous lemma enables us to conclude that (5) converges to $`\mu (y)_p(0\mathrm{})^3`$. As $`_p(0\mathrm{})>0`$, this leads to the desired inequality.

Step 6. Property (5) is a direct consequence of the sub-additivity of $`\mu `$.

Step 7. Using properties (1), (2) and (4), we get:

$$\mu (u_1,\mathrm{},u_d)\underset{i=1}{\overset{d}{}}|u_i|\mu (e_i)$$

where $`(e_i)_{1id}`$ is the canonical basis of $`^d`$. Thus,

$$\mu (u)\mu _{}u_1.$$

The second part of property (3) follows immediately.∎

This finally allows us to prove an analogue result for any rational direction. Indeed, let $`q^d\backslash \{0\}`$ be fixed. Choose any couple $`(N,u)_+^{}\times ^d`$ such that $`u=Nq^d`$ and set $`\mu (q)=\mu (u)/N`$. The constant $`\mu (q)`$ is well defined thanks to the homogeneity property of $`\mu `$. The function $`\mu `$, extended in this manner to $`^d\backslash \{0\}`$, obviously keeps its properties: for any rational $`\alpha `$ and any vectors $`u`$ and $`v`$ in $`^d`$,

$$\mu (\alpha u)=|\alpha |\mu (u),\text{ and }\mu (u+v)\mu (u)+\mu (v)\text{ and }|\mu (u)\mu (v)|\rho muv_1.$$

Thus we can extend $`\mu `$ to $`^d`$ by continuity, keeping these three properties.

## 4. Sufficient conditions for the positivity of $`\mu `$

As in the classical cas, we study now the question of the positivity of $`\mu `$, which is a crucial point in the quest of an asymptotic shape result. We begin with the case of a product measure.

###### Theorem 4.1.

Suppose here that $`S_\nu =\nu ^{𝔼^d}`$. Then

* If $`p\nu (0)<p_c`$, then $`\mu `$ is a norm on $`^d`$.
* If $`p\nu (0)>p_c`$, then $`\mu =0`$ on $`^d`$.

###### Proof.

The only remaining point to consider is to determine whether $`\mu (u)=0`$ implies $`u=0`$ or not. Let us define, for each $`e𝔼^d`$, $`\eta _e^{}=\eta _e\omega _e+(1\omega _e)`$. The law of $`(\eta _e^{})_{e𝔼^d}`$ under $``$ is $`(p\nu +(1p)\delta _1)^{𝔼^d}`$. We can define the new distance relatively to these new passage times:

$$d^{}(x,y)(\omega ,\eta )=\underset{\gamma }{inf}\underset{e\gamma }{}\eta _e^{},$$

where the infinimum is taken over all the paths from $`x`$ to $`y`$ in $`^d`$. This is in fact the classical first-passage percolation distance associated to the passage times $`\nu ^{}=p\nu +(1p)\delta _1`$. Denote by $`\mu ^{}`$ its associated renormalized limit. Note that by construction $`d^{}(x,y)d(x,y)`$, and thus that $`\mu ^{}\mu `$. It is a now classical result (see Kesten \[Kes86\] for instance) that $`\nu ^{}(0)<p_c`$ implies that the associated limit $`\mu ^{}`$ is a norm on $`^d`$, and, since $`\nu ^{}(0)=p\nu (0)`$, if $`p\nu (0)<p_c`$ then $`\mu `$ is a norm on $`^d`$.

On the other hand, suppose that $`p\nu (0)>p_c`$. Color in red the edges $`e`$ such that $`\omega (e)=1`$ and $`\nu (e)=0`$. As $`p\nu (0)>p_c`$, there is almost surely a unique infinite cluster of red edges, included in the infinite cluster for the Bernoulli$`(p)`$ percolation structure. Let $`u^d`$. On the event $`R=`$ “the origin is in the red infinite cluster” (included in the event “the origin is in the Bernoulli$`(p)`$ infinite cluster”), we can find an increasing sequence of (random) integers $`(k_n)`$ such that $`k_n.u`$ is in the red infinite cluster for every $`n`$. But then clearly, $`d(0,k_n.u)=0`$. Thus, evaluating $`\mu (u)`$ on this subsequence gives $`\mu (u)=0`$ on the event $`R`$. Since $`\mu (u)`$ is constant under $`\overline{}`$, this completes the proof. ∎

###### Corollary 4.2.

The asymptotic speed $`\mu `$ associated to the chemical distance in Bernoulli percolation with parameter $`p>p_c(d)`$ is a norm on $`^d`$.

When $`S_\nu `$ is not a product measure, there is no general method to determinate whether $`\nu `$ is a norm or not, even in the classical case $`p=1`$.

A natural idea is to use stochastic comparison: if $`S_\nu ^{}S_\nu `$, then $`\mu (p,\nu ^{})\mu (p,\nu )`$. Consequently, if $`a`$ is such that $`S_\nu ^{}(\eta _e[a,+\mathrm{}))=1`$ holds for each $`e𝔼^d`$, then $`S_\nu ^{}`$ is a norm for each $`p>p_c`$, because $`d(.,.)aD(.,.)`$.

We will now prove that $`\mu `$ is a norm if $`S_\nu `$ satisfies an appropriate large deviation inequality.

###### Theorem 4.3.

Let us suppose that there exists $`A>0`$ and a map $`f:(0,+\mathrm{})^+`$

$$\epsilon >0\mathrm{\Lambda }𝔼^dS_\nu \left(\eta \mathrm{\Omega }_S;\underset{e\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}\eta _i\epsilon |\mathrm{\Lambda }|\right)A\mathrm{exp}(f(\epsilon )|\mathrm{\Lambda }|).$$

Let $`K_0=\begin{array}{c}\\ \underset{¯}{lim}\\ \epsilon 0^+\end{array}\mathrm{exp}(f(\epsilon )).`$

Then, the application $`\mu `$ associated to $`S_\nu `$ is a norm as soon as $`K_0p\lambda (d)<1`$, where $`\lambda (d)`$ is the $`d`$-dimensional connective constant

###### Proof.

Let $`\epsilon >0`$ be small enough to ensure that $`(\lambda (d)+\epsilon )\mathrm{exp}(f(\epsilon ))<1`$ and consider $`u^d`$ .

$`(d(0,u)\epsilon u_1)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\gamma }{}}(\gamma (0,u)=\gamma ;{\displaystyle \underset{e\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}}\eta _i\epsilon u_1)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\gamma }{}}(\gamma (0,u)=\gamma ;{\displaystyle \underset{e\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}}\eta _i\epsilon |\gamma |)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n=u_1}{\overset{+\mathrm{}}{}}}H(\lambda (d)+\epsilon )^n\mathrm{exp}(nf(\epsilon ))`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{H}{1((\lambda (d)+\epsilon )\mathrm{exp}(f(\epsilon ))}}\left((\lambda (d)+\epsilon )\mathrm{exp}(f(\epsilon ))\right)^{u_1}.`$
Then, it follows from Borel-Cantelli lemma that $`d(0,nu)nu_1`$ if $`n`$ is large enough: we can conclude that $`\mu (u)\epsilon u_1`$. As $`\mu `$ is homogeneous and continuous, this inequality is extended first to $`^d`$, and next to $`^d`$. Since $`._1`$ is a norm, so does $`\mu `$.

Remarks. We will give in subsection 7.2 an example of application of this theorem.

Let us now discuss the assumption of theorem 4.3 by considering the case $`S_\nu =(\text{Ber}(1q))^{𝔼^d}`$. By Chernof’s theorem, one can take

$$f(\epsilon )=(1\epsilon )\mathrm{log}\frac{1\epsilon }{q}+\epsilon \mathrm{log}\frac{\epsilon }{1q},$$

thus $`K_0=q`$. Then, theorem 4.3 says that $`\mu `$ is a norm as soon as $`qp<\frac{1}{\lambda (d)}`$ whereas theorem 4.1 teaches us that the optimal condition is $`qp<p_c`$.
Since $`\frac{1}{\lambda (d)}\frac{1}{2d}p_c(d)`$ for large $`d`$, assumption of theorem 4.3 does not seem so bad.

## 5. The asymptotic shape theorem

From now on, we suppose that $`\mu `$ is a norm. We want now study the convergence of the renormalized set of wet points at time $`t`$ to the unit ball for $`\mu `$. Because of the presence of holes in the infinite cluster, the Hausdorff distance seems naturaly adapted to study the convergence.

###### Definition 5.1.

For $`x^d`$ and $`r0`$, we define

$$B_\mu (x,r)=\{y^d;\mu (xy)r\}.$$

###### Definition 5.2.

The Hausdorff distance between two non empty compact subsets $`A`$ and $`B`$ of $`^d`$ is defined by

$$𝒟(A,B)=inf\{r0;AB+B_\mu (0,r)\text{ and }BA+B_\mu (0,r)\}.$$

Note that we use the Hausdorff distance associated to $`\mu `$, but the equivalence of norms on $`^d`$ ensures that the induced topology does not depend on this choice.

###### Theorem 5.3 (asymptotic shape).

Suppose that $`(H_\alpha )`$ holds for some $`\alpha >d^2+2d1`$ and that $`\mu `$ is a norm. Then,

$$\underset{t+\mathrm{}}{lim}𝒟(\frac{B_t}{t},B_\mu (0,1))=0\overline{}\text{ a.s.}$$

Remark. It is important to have in mind that $`(H_\alpha )`$ is always satisfied if the passage times are bounded by an absolute constant. We have already seen that $`S_\nu `$ is always a norm when the passage times are bounded from below by a a positive constant. Putting these two results together, we get that $`S_\nu `$ always satisfies the assumptions of theorem 5.3 if it is an invariant ergodic measure for which we can found $`0<a<b<+\mathrm{}`$ with $`S_\nu ([a,b]^{𝔼^d})=1`$. We thus obtain an asymptotic shape theorem for the chemical distance in supercritical Bernoulli percolation. Remember that on the event “the origin is in the infinite cluster”, we denote by $`B_n`$ the set of points in $`^d`$ whose chemical distance from $`0`$ is less or equal to $`n`$.

###### Corollary 5.4.

For every $`p>p_c(d)`$, there exists a deterministic convex compact set $`A`$ with non-empty interior and invariant under permutations or reflections of the coordinates in $`^d`$ such that:

$$\frac{B_n}{n}A\text{ for the Hausdorff topology }\overline{}_p\text{ a.s.}$$

We will first give some preliminary lemmas in order to prove theorem 5.3.

###### Lemma 5.5.

Let $`z^d`$ be a fixed non null vector. Then for every $`\epsilon >0`$,

$$\overline{}(N>0,x[N,+\mathrm{}),k[(1\epsilon )x,\mathrm{},(1+\epsilon )x]_+\text{ such that }kz\mathrm{})=1.$$

###### Proof.

Almost surely under $`\overline{}`$, the sequence $`(T_{m,z})_{m1}`$ is an unbounded increasing sequence; thus there exists $`m_+`$, with $`T_{m,z}x<T_{m+1,z}`$. Now,

$$\frac{xT_{m,z}}{x}\frac{T_{m+1,z}T_{m,z}}{T_{m,z}}=\frac{T_{m+1,z}}{T_{m,z}}1=\frac{m+1}{m}\frac{\frac{T_{m+1,z}}{m+1}}{\frac{T_{m,z}}{m}}1,$$

which vanishes at infinity since $`\frac{T_{m,z}}{m}`$ tends to $`\frac{1}{(0\mathrm{})}`$. It follows that $`\frac{xT_{m,z}}{x}\epsilon `$ as soon as $`x`$ is large enough, thus we can take $`k=T_{m,z}`$. ∎

###### Lemma 5.6.

Suppose that $`(H_\alpha )`$ holds with $`\alpha >d^2+2d1`$ and let $`\epsilon >0`$ be small enough. Then

$$(M>0,mM,x^d,y^d,(x_1=m,y_1\epsilon m)d(x,y)B\rho \epsilon m)=1.$$

###### Proof.

In view to use Borel-Cantelli lemma, denote by $`A_m`$ the set:

$$A_m=\{x^d,y^d\text{ such that }x_1=m,y_1\epsilon m\text{ and }d(x,y)B\rho \epsilon m\}.$$

Using lemma 2.3 and lemma 2.1, we get (note that in the following lines, $`K_i`$ and $`L_j`$ denote constants, depending only on the dimension $`d`$, whose values are not precised to avoid intricate expressions). We set $`r=\left(\frac{B\rho \epsilon m}{a}\right)^{1/d}`$.

$`(A_m)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{\epsilon m}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{y,xy_1=l}{}}(xy,d(x,y)B\rho \epsilon m)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{r}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{y,y_1=l}{}}(y0,d(y,0)B\rho \epsilon m)`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=r}{\overset{\epsilon m}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{y,y_1=l}{}}(y0,d(0,y)B\rho y_1)`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{r}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{y,y_1=l}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{K_0}{r^\nu }}`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=r}{\overset{\epsilon m}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{y,y_1=l}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{L_0}{l^\alpha }}`$
Let us compute the first term

$`{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{r}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{y,y_1=l}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{K_0}{r^\nu }}`$ $``$ $`K_1{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=0}{\overset{r}{}}}l^{d1}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{r^\nu }}`$
$``$ $`K_2{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{r^d}{r^\nu }}`$
$``$ $`K_3{\displaystyle \frac{1}{m^{\frac{\nu }{d}d}}},`$
and the second term:

$`{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=r}{\overset{\epsilon m}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{y,y_1=l}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{L_0}{l^\alpha }}`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=r}{\overset{\epsilon m}{}}}l^{d1}{\displaystyle \frac{L_1}{l^\alpha }}`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{l=r}{\overset{+\mathrm{}}{}}}l^{d1}{\displaystyle \frac{L_1}{l^\alpha }}`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{x,x_1=m}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{L_2}{m^{(\alpha d)/d}}}`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{L_3}{m^{\frac{\alpha d}{d}d+1}}}.`$
Remember that $`\nu =\alpha d+1`$. The choice we made on $`\alpha `$ ensures that both terms are the general terms of convergent series, which allows us to conclude thanks to Borel-Cantelli lemma. ∎

###### Lemma 5.7.

Let $`\epsilon >0`$. Then

$$\overline{}(M>0,y^d,(y_1M\text{ and }y0|d(0,y)\mu (y)|\epsilon y_1))=1.$$

###### Proof.

Let us suppose this is false and choose $`\epsilon >0`$ such that the assertion fails. Then, with positive probability under $`\overline{}`$, there exists a random sequence $`(y_n)_{n0}`$ of points in $`^d`$ such that

$$\{\begin{array}{c}y_n_1\mathrm{}\hfill \\ y_n0\hfill \\ |d(0,y_n)\mu (y_n)|\epsilon y_n_1\hfill \end{array}$$

By considering a subsequence if necessary, suppose that

$$\frac{y_n}{y_n_1}z.$$

Let us approximate $`z`$ by a renormalized integer vector: consider $`\epsilon _1>0`$ (to be chosen small enough later), and choose $`z^{}^d`$ be such that $`\frac{z^{}}{z^{}_1}z_1\epsilon _1`$.

Let us find, for each $`y_n`$, an integer point on the line $`z^{}`$ close enough from $`y_n`$: let $`h_n`$ be the integer part of $`\frac{y_n_1}{z^{}_1}`$. We have

$`y_nh_n.z^{}_1`$ $``$ $`y_n{\displaystyle \frac{y_n_1}{z^{}_1}}z^{}_1+\left|{\displaystyle \frac{y_n_1}{z^{}_1}}h_n\right|z^{}_1`$
$``$ $`y_n_1{\displaystyle \frac{y_n}{y_n_1}}{\displaystyle \frac{z^{}}{z^{}_1}}_1+z^{}_1`$
Choose $`N>0`$ large enough to ensure that $`nN\frac{y_n}{y_n_1}z_1\epsilon _1`$,
With the choice we wade for $`z^{}`$, we have $`nN\frac{y_n}{y_n_1}\frac{z^{}}{z^{}_1}_12\epsilon _1`$, whence

$$y_nh_n.z^{}_12\epsilon _1y_n_1+z^{}_1.$$

Lemma 5.5 ensures now that, enlarging $`N`$ if necessary, there exists for every $`nN`$, a integer $`k_n[(1\epsilon _1)h_n,\mathrm{},(1+\epsilon _1)h_n]`$ such that $`kz^{}`$ is in the infinite cluster. But:

$`y_nk_n.z^{}_1`$ $``$ $`y_nh_n.z^{}_1+|h_nk_n|z^{}_1`$
$``$ $`2\epsilon _1y_n_1+z^{}_1+\epsilon _1h_nz^{}_1`$
$``$ $`2\epsilon _1y_n_1+z^{}_1+\epsilon _1y_n_1`$
$``$ $`3\epsilon _1y_n_1+z^{}_1`$
$``$ $`4\epsilon _1y_n_1,`$
if $`N`$ is large enough. Enlarging once again $`N`$ if necessary, we can use lemma 5.6 to have: for every $`nN`$:

$$d(y_n,k_n.z^{})4B\rho \epsilon _1y_n_1.$$

Finally, for every $`n`$ large enough, we have:

$`|d(0,y_n)\mu (y_n)|`$ $``$ $`|d(0,y_n)d(0,k_n.z^{})|+|d(0,k_n.z^{})\mu (k_n.z^{})|+|\mu (k_n.z^{})\mu (y_n)|`$
$``$ $`4B\rho \epsilon _1y_n_1+k_n\left|{\displaystyle \frac{d(0,k_n.z^{})}{k_n}}\mu (z^{})\right|+\mu _1k_n.z^{}y_n_1`$
$``$ $`4B\rho \epsilon _1y_n_1+(1+\epsilon _1){\displaystyle \frac{y_n_1}{z^{}_1}}\left|{\displaystyle \frac{d(0,k_n.z^{})}{k_n}}\mu (z^{})\right|+4\epsilon _1\mu _1y_n_1.`$
But the convergence in the direction given by $`z^{}`$ ensures that for every $`n`$ large enough,

$$\left|\frac{d(0,k_n.z^{})}{k_n}\mu (z^{})\right|\epsilon _1.$$

So by choosing $`\epsilon _1`$ small enough, we can ensure that for every $`n`$ large enough,

$$|d(0,y_n)\mu (y_n)|\epsilon y_n_1,$$

which yields to a contradiction. ∎

###### Proof of theorem 5.3.

Let $`\epsilon >0`$.

Step 1. If

$$T>0tT\frac{B_t}{t}B_\mu (0,(1+\epsilon ))$$

fails, then there exists an unbounded increasing sequence of times $`(t_n)_{n1}`$ and a sequence of vertices $`(y_n)_{n1}`$ with $`y_nB(t_n)`$ and $`\frac{y_n}{t_n}B_\mu (0,1+\epsilon )`$, which gives $`d(0,y_n)t_n`$ and $`\mu (y_n)>(1+\epsilon )t_n`$. By lemma 5.7, this happens with a null probability.

Step 2. Let us show that with probability 1, the following property holds:

(6)
$$T>0tTB_\mu (0,1\frac{\epsilon }{2})\frac{B_t}{t}+B_\mu (0,\frac{\epsilon }{2}).$$

If (6) fails, then, with positive probability under $`\overline{}`$, there exists an unbounded increasing sequence of random times $`(t_n)_{n1}`$ and a sequence $`(v_n)_{n1}`$ of points in $`^d`$ such that

$$\{\begin{array}{c}v_nB_\mu (0,1\frac{\epsilon }{2})\hfill \\ v_n\frac{B_{t_n}}{t_n}+B_\mu (0,\frac{\epsilon }{2})\hfill \end{array}$$

Let $`v`$ be a limiting value for $`(v_n)_{n1}`$: clearly, there exists an unbounded increasing sequence of times $`t_n^{}`$ such that $`v\frac{B_{t_n^{}}}{t_n^{}}+B_\mu (0,\frac{\epsilon }{3})`$. Let $`w^d`$ such that $`\mu (vw)\frac{\epsilon }{12}`$. Then, for each $`n1`$, we have $`w\frac{B_{t_n^{}}}{t_n^{}}+B_\mu (0,\frac{\epsilon }{4})`$, whence $`wB_\mu (0,1\frac{5}{12}\epsilon )`$. We can write $`w`$ as $`w=z/Z`$, with $`z^d`$ and $`Z_+`$.

Lemma 5.5 ensures that, provided that $`n`$ is large enough, there exists $`z_nB_\mu (t_n^{}w,\frac{\epsilon }{4}\mu (t_n^{}w))`$ with $`z_n\mathrm{}`$. The vertex $`z_n`$ can not be in $`\frac{B_{t_n^{}}}{t_n^{}}`$ because $`w\frac{B_{t_n^{}}}{t_n^{}}+B_\mu (0,\frac{\epsilon }{4})`$. It follows that $`d(0,z_n)>t_n`$. But

$$\mu (z_n)\mu (t_n^{}w)+\frac{\epsilon }{4}\mu (t_n^{}w)t_n^{}\mu (w)+\frac{\epsilon }{4}t_n^{}t_n^{}\left(1\frac{5\epsilon }{12}+\frac{\epsilon }{4}\right)=\left(1\frac{\epsilon }{6}\right)t_n^{}.$$

By lemma 5.7, this can (almost surely) not happen. Then, (6) holds almost surely. Since

$$B_\mu (0,1\frac{\epsilon }{2})\frac{B_t}{t}+B_\mu (0,\frac{\epsilon }{2})B_\mu (0,1)\frac{B_t}{t}+B_\mu (0,\epsilon ),$$

this completes the proof. ∎

## 6. Properties of the asymptotic shape

As in the classical case, one has immediate properties for the asymptotic shape (see \[Kes86\], chapter 6):

###### Lemma 6.1 (Stochastic comparison).

Let $`p_c<pp^{}`$ and $`\nu ,\nu ^{}`$ be two probability measures on $`^+`$ such that the assumptions of the shape theorem are fulfilled for $`S_\nu =\nu ^{𝔼^d}`$ and $`S_\nu ^{}=(\nu ^{})^{𝔼^d}`$ and such that $`\nu ^{}`$ is stochastically smaller than $`\nu `$, then if $`A`$ and $`A^{}`$ denote their respective associated asymptotic shapes, we have

$$AA^{}.$$

###### Proof.

Coupling argument. ∎

###### Lemma 6.2.

Let $`p>p_c`$, and $`\nu `$ be a probability measure on $`^+`$ satisfiying the assumptions of the shape theorem. Denote by $`\nu _{\mathrm{min}}`$ the essential infimum of $`\nu `$, $`\nu _{mean}`$ the mean of $`\nu `$, by $`\mu _{p,\nu }`$ the norm associated to the first passage-percolation model with $`S_\nu =\nu ^{𝔼^d}`$ in the random environment given by the infinite cluster of Bernoulli$`(p)`$ percolation, and by $`\stackrel{~}{\mu }_p`$ the norm associated to the chemical distance for Bernoulli$`(p)`$ percolation. Then:

$$y^d\nu _{\mathrm{min}}\stackrel{~}{\mu }_p(y)\mu _{p,\nu }(y)\nu _{mean}\stackrel{~}{\mu }_p(y).$$

###### Proof.

The lower bound is obtained by a coupling argument, the upper one by estimating the travel times on the minimal paths for the chemical distance. ∎

###### Theorem 6.3 (Flat edge result).

Here, we work on $`^2`$. Let $`p>p_c=1/2`$. Denote by $`\stackrel{}{p_c}`$ the critical threshold for oriented percolation on $`^2`$. Suppose that $`S_\nu =\nu ^{𝔼^2}`$, where $`\nu `$ is a probability measure on $`^+`$ such that $`\nu _{\mathrm{min}}`$, the essential infimum of $`\nu `$, is positive, satisfies the assumption of the shape theorem. Denote by $`A_p`$ the associated asymptotic shape, and by $`\mathrm{}(r)`$ the ball with radius $`r`$ for $`._1`$.

* $`A_p\mathrm{}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}}\right).`$
* If $`p\nu (\nu _{\mathrm{min}})<\stackrel{}{p_c}`$, then $`A_p\text{ int }\left(\mathrm{}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}}\right)\right).`$
* If $`p\nu (\nu _{\mathrm{min}})>\stackrel{}{p_c}`$, then

$$A_p\text{ fr }\left(\mathrm{}\left(\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}\right)\right)(^+)^2=[\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}M_q,\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}N_q],$$

where

$$\{\begin{array}{c}q=p\nu (\nu _{\mathrm{min}}),\hfill \\ \alpha _q\text{ is the asymptotic speed in supercritical oriented percolation }\hfill \\ \text{ with pamameter }q,\hfill \\ M_q=(\frac{1}{2}+\frac{\alpha _q}{\sqrt{2}},\frac{1}{2}\frac{\alpha _q}{\sqrt{2}}),\hfill \\ N_q=(\frac{1}{2}\frac{\alpha _q}{\sqrt{2}},\frac{1}{2}+\frac{\alpha _q}{\sqrt{2}}),\hfill \\ [\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}M_q,\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}N_q]\text{ denotes the segment line with extremities }\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}M_q,\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}N_q.\hfill \end{array}$$

###### Corollary 6.4 (Flat edge for the asymptotic shape for the chemical distance).

Here, we work on $`^2`$. Let $`p>p_c=1/2`$. Denote by $`\stackrel{}{p_c}`$ the critical threshold for oriented percolation on $`^2`$. Denote by $`A_p`$ the associated asymptotic shape, and by $`\mathrm{}`$ the unit ball with radius $`1`$ for $`._1`$.

* $`A_p\mathrm{}.`$
* If $`p<\stackrel{}{p_c}`$, then $`A_p\text{ int }\left(\mathrm{}\right).`$
* If $`p>\stackrel{}{p_c}`$, then

$$A_p\text{fr}\left(\mathrm{}\right)(^+)^2=[M_p,N_p],$$

with the same notations as in the previous theorem.

The following pictures represent the set $`B_n`$ at time $`n=450`$ for the chemical distance. Note the absence of flat edge for $`p=0.55<\stackrel{}{p_c}`$.

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| $`p=0.55`$ |  | $`p=0.7`$ |

###### Proof of theorem 6.3.

Note that the first point is a direct consequence of lemma 6.1, by comparing our model with the classical case and passage times with law $`\delta _{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}`$.

Note then, by lemma 6.1, that the asymptotic shape of the first-passage percolation for some $`\nu ^{𝔼^2}`$ on the infinite cluster of Bernoulli$`(p)`$ percolation is included in the asymptotic shape of classical first-passage percolation for the same $`\nu ^{𝔼^2}`$. Thus the second point is a consequence of theorem 1.3 (ii) in \[Mar02\], which is a consequence of the strict inequalities for the time constant in classical first-passage percolation established by van den Berg and Kesten in \[vdBK93\].

For the third point, let us examinate first the proof of the inclusion

$$A_p\text{ fr }\left(D\left(\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}\right)\right)(^+)^2[\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}M_q,\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}N_q].$$

As noted in \[Kes86\] in the proof of theorem 6.13, the proof of the analogous result in the special case of Richardson’s model treated in \[DL81\] lemma 6-13 by Durrett and Liggett can immediately be adapted.

It remains now to prove the exact length of the flat edge by proving:

$$A_p\text{ fr }\left(D\left(\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}\right)\right)(^+)^2[\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}M_q,\frac{1}{\nu _{\mathrm{min}}}N_q].$$

But once again, the stochastic comparison lemma and the exact determination result in the classical case – theorem 1.3 in \[Mar02\] – give the announced result. ∎

## 7. Examples

### 7.1. Exponential passage times

This subsection is devoted to the special case where the passage times are independent variables with an exponential distribution $`(\lambda )`$. When $`p=1`$, we recover a Richardson model, which is one of the first studied examples for first-passage percolation – see \[Ric73\].

By theorem 4.1, $`\mu `$ is a norm for $`S_\nu =((\lambda ))^{𝔼^d}`$ and each $`p>p_c`$. Let us denote by $`A(p,\lambda )`$ the asymptotic form corresponding to $`S_\nu =((\lambda ))^{𝔼^d}`$. By the scaling properties of the exponential laws, it is easy to see that $`A(p,\lambda )=\lambda A(p,1)`$ holds for each $`\lambda >0`$ and $`p>p_c`$. Let us prove that $`A(p,1)A(1,p)=pA(1,1)`$.

The main tool is an appropriate coupling. Let $`(\eta _e)_{e𝔼^d}`$, $`(x_e)_{e𝔼^d}`$, $`(z_e)_{e𝔼^d}`$ be independent random variables with for each $`e𝔼^d`$: $`\eta _e(p)`$, $`x_e(1p)`$ and $`z_e(1)`$. Now define

$$\eta _e^{}=11_{\{\eta _ex_e\}}\eta _e+11_{\{\eta _e>x_e\}}z_e$$

and

$$\omega _e=11_{\{\eta _ex_e\}}.$$

On one hand,

$`P(\eta _e^{}>t,\omega _e=1)`$ $`=`$ $`P(\eta _e>t,\eta _ex_e)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _t^+\mathrm{}}pe^{py}P(x_e>y)𝑑\lambda (y)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _t^+\mathrm{}}pe^{py}e^{(1p)y}𝑑\lambda (y)`$
$`=`$ $`pe^t.`$
Particularly, $`P(\omega _e=1)=P(\eta _e^{}>t,\omega _e=1)=p`$. On the other hand

$$P(\eta _e^{}>t,\omega _e=0)=P(z_e>t,\eta _ex_e)=P(z_e>t)P(\eta _ex_e)=e^t(1t)$$

Thus, $`\eta _e^{}`$ and $`\omega _e`$ are independent random variables, with $`\eta _e^{}(1)`$ and $`\omega _e\text{Ber}(p)`$.

Consider now the set of wet points $`B_t`$ and $`B_t^{}`$ respectively associated to $`((1,\eta _e)_{e𝔼^d})`$ and $`((\omega _e,\eta _e^{}))_{e𝔼^d}`$. Since $`\eta _e^{}=\eta _e`$ when the bond $`e`$ is open, it follows that

$$B^{}(t)B(t)$$

always holds.
Dividing by $`t`$, and letting $`t`$ tend to infinity, we get $`A(p,1)A(1,p)=pA(1,1)`$.

### 7.2. Dependent $`\chi ^2`$ passage times

We then give an example of unbounded dependent passage times which lead to an asymptotic shape. It is also an example in which our theorem 4.3 makes us able to prove that $`\mu `$ is effectively a norm.

###### Theorem 7.1.

Let $`(X_n^i)_{n^d,i\{1,\mathrm{},d\}}`$ be a centered Gaussian process such that

$$i,j\{1,\mathrm{},d\}k,n^d𝔼X_n^iX_{n+k}^j=𝔼X_0^iX_k^j$$

and

$$\underset{k^d}{}\underset{1ijd}{}|𝔼X_0^iX_k^j|<+\mathrm{}.$$

To avoid degenerate cases, we also suppose that

$$i\{1,\mathrm{},d\}𝔼(X_0^i)^2>0.$$

Now consider the passage time $`(\eta _e)_{e𝔼^d}`$ defined by $`\eta _{\{k,k+e_i\}}=(X_k^i)^2`$. If we denote by $`S_\nu `$ the law of $`(\eta _e)_{e𝔼^d}`$, then $`S_\nu `$ satisfies to the assumption of theorem 5.3 for each $`p>p_c`$, so there is convergence to the asymptotic shape for the associated growth model.

###### Proof.

It is immediate that $`S_\nu `$ is shift-invariant. Since the covariance is summable, it tends to $`0`$ at infinity; it follows that $`S_\nu `$ is mixing, hence it is ergodic – this result is attributed to Maruyama and Fomin by Sinaï \[Sin76\].

Let us first recall some useful estimates whose proofs can be found in \[Gar02\].

###### Lemma 7.2.

Let $`X`$ be a $`^n`$-valued centered Gaussian vector with covariance matrix $`C`$. Let us denote by $`\rho (C)`$ the spectral radius *i.e.* the largest norm of an eigenvalue of $`C`$. Then, for each $`a^2>\rho (C)`$, we have:

(7)
$$P(X_1^2na^2)e^{nh(\frac{a^2}{\rho (C)})},$$

where $`h(x)=\frac{1}{2}(x\mathrm{ln}x1)`$. The function $`h`$ is increasing and positive on $`(1,+\mathrm{})`$, with $`+\mathrm{}`$ as limit at $`+\mathrm{}`$.

###### Lemma 7.3.

Let $`X`$ be a $`n`$-dimensional Gaussian vector with positive definite covariance matrix $`C`$. Let us denote by $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(C)`$ the spectral gap *i.e.* the smallest eigenvalue of $`C`$. Then, for each $`a^2<\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(C)`$, we have

(8)
$$P(X_1^2na^2)e^{nh(\frac{a^2}{\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(C)})},$$

where $`h(x)=\frac{1}{2}(x\mathrm{ln}x1)`$. The function $`h`$ is positive and decreasing on $`(0,1)`$, with an infinite limit at 0.

We will now prove that $`(\eta _e)_{e𝔼^d}`$ satisfy to the assumption of theorem 4.3.

Let us for convenience identify $`𝔼^d`$ with $`^d\times \{1,\mathrm{},d\}`$: the point $`(x,i)^d\times \{1,\mathrm{}d\}`$ will be identified with $`\{x,x+e_i\}𝔼^d`$. We define

$$S=\underset{k^d}{}\underset{1ijd}{}|𝔼X_0^iX_k^j|<+\mathrm{}\text{ and }\sigma ^2=inf\{𝔼(X_0^i)^2>0;i\{1,\mathrm{},d\}\}.$$

Let $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^d\times \{1,\mathrm{}d\}`$ and $`\epsilon >0`$. We must bound

$$S_\nu \left(\eta \mathrm{\Omega }_S;\underset{e\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}\eta _e\epsilon |\mathrm{\Lambda }|\right)=\left(\underset{(k,i)\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}(X_k^i)^2\epsilon |\mathrm{\Lambda }|\right).$$

Since $`{\displaystyle \underset{kN^d\backslash \{0\}}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{1ijd}{}}|𝔼X_0^iX_k^j|{\displaystyle \underset{kN}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{1ijd}{}}|𝔼X_0^iX_k^j|`$, we can find $`N_+`$ such that

$$\underset{kN^d\backslash \{0\}}{}\underset{1ijd}{}|𝔼X_0^iX_k^j|\frac{\sigma ^2}{2}.$$

For each $`(k,i)\{0,N1\}^d\times \{1,\mathrm{},d\}`$, we can define $`A_{k,i}=\mathrm{\Lambda }\left((k+N^d)\times \{i\}\right)`$. By the pigeon-hole principle, there exists $`(k_0,i_0)`$ such that $`|A_{k_0,i_0}|\frac{|\mathrm{\Lambda }|}{dN^d}`$. Let $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ be the $`|A_{k_0,i_0}|`$-dimensional Gaussian vector composed by the $`(X_e)_{eA_{k_0,i_0}}`$; it is obvious that

$`\left({\displaystyle \underset{(k,i)\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}}(X_k^i)^2|\mathrm{\Lambda }|\epsilon \right)`$ $``$ $`(\stackrel{~}{X}_2^2|\mathrm{\Lambda }|\epsilon )`$
$``$ $`(\stackrel{~}{X}_2^2|A_{k_0,i_0}|dN^d\epsilon ).`$
By lemma 7.3,

$$dN^d\epsilon <\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(C)(\stackrel{~}{X}_2^2|A_{k_0,i_0}|dN^d\epsilon )\mathrm{exp}\left(|A_{k_0,i_0}|h\left(\frac{dN^d\epsilon }{\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(C)}\right)\right),$$

where the covariance matrix for $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ is $`C=(𝔼X_k^iX_l^j)_{((k,i),(l,j))A_{k_0,i_0}\times A_{k_0,i_0}}`$. But

$`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(C)`$ $``$ $`\underset{(k,i_0)A_{k_0,i_0}}{inf}𝔼(X_k^{i_0})^2{\displaystyle \underset{(l,i_0)A_{k_0,i_0};(l,i_0)(k,i_0)}{}}|𝔼X_k^iX_l^{i_0}|`$
$``$ $`\sigma ^2\underset{(k,i_0)A_{k_0,i_0}}{sup}{\displaystyle \underset{(l,i_0)A_{k_0,i_0};(l,i_0)(k,i)}{}}|𝔼X_k^{i_0}X_l^{i_0}|`$
$``$ $`\sigma ^2\underset{(k,i_0)A_{k_0,i_0}}{sup}{\displaystyle \underset{(l,i_0)A_{k_0,i_0};(l,i_0)(k,i)}{}}|𝔼X_0^{i_0}X_{kl}^{i_0}|`$
$``$ $`\sigma ^2{\displaystyle \underset{kN^d\backslash \{0\}}{}}|𝔼X_0^{i_0}X_k^{i_0}|`$
$``$ $`\sigma ^2{\displaystyle \frac{\sigma ^2}{2}}={\displaystyle \frac{\sigma ^2}{2}}.`$
It follows that

(9)
$$\epsilon (0,\frac{\sigma ^2}{2Nd})P\left(\underset{(k,i)\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}(X_k^i)^2|\mathrm{\Lambda }|\epsilon \right)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{dN^d}h(\frac{2\epsilon }{\sigma ^2})|\mathrm{\Lambda }|\right).$$

We can now claim that the assumptions of theorem 4.3 are fulfilled. Since $`lim_{x0}h(x)=+\mathrm{}`$, we have $`K_0=0`$. Then, the application $`\mu `$ associated to $`p`$ and $`S_\nu `$ is a norm for each $`p>p_c`$.

With the help of lemma 7.2, it is not difficult to see that

$$S_\nu \left(\eta \mathrm{\Omega }_S;\underset{e\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}\eta _e|\mathrm{\Lambda }|a^2\right)e^{|\mathrm{\Lambda }|h(\frac{a^2}{S})}$$

holds for each $`a>S`$. It follows that $`(H_\alpha )`$ holds for each $`\alpha >1`$, and hence that the assumptions of theorem 5.3 are fulfilled. ∎

### 7.3. Cost ans speed for road networks.

Imagine that there exist $`n`$ companies $`(C_i)_{1in}`$ that want to build roads on the same $`^d`$ lattice: Company $`C_i`$, independentlty from the others, tries to build a road on edge $`e`$ with probability $`p_i`$ (set then $`\omega _{e,i}=1`$) and leaves the edge $`e`$ empty with probability $`1p_i`$ (set then $`\omega _{e,i}=0`$), all constructions being independent. When two or more companies want to build a road on the same edge, they share the possession of the road. A client of company $`C_i`$ can only use roads at least partially own by $`C_i`$. Suppose that each $`p_i>p_c(d)`$ to ensure that almost surely, company $`C_i`$ has a real (infinite) road network. Portions of roads own by comp $`C_i`$ that are not linked to the infinite cluster cannot be used by its clients. Set, if $`e=\{a,b\}𝔼^d`$ is an edge:

$$\eta _e=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\omega _{e,i}11_{|C_i(a)|+|C_i(b)|=+\mathrm{}}.$$

Then $`\eta _e`$ counts the number of companies that offer the edge $`e`$ as a possible road for their clients. Now, associate to the edge $`e`$ a random value:

$$\eta _{e,i}=f(i,\eta _e),$$

where $`f`$ is a deterministic function.

For instance, we can imagine that $`f(i,\eta _e)`$ represents the costs for company $`C_i`$ to build a road on the edge $`e`$: this cost depend on the specificity of company $`C_i`$ (that is why $`f`$ depends on $`i`$), and also on the total number $`\eta _e`$ of companies that want to build a raod on th edge $`e`$ (their can share the costs of construction for instance). In this case, the function $`f`$ is decreasing in the second variable.

Another example can be the following: $`f(i,\eta _e)`$ represents the time needed for clients of company $`C_i`$ to cross the edge $`e`$: the larger the number of companies that own this edge is, and the larger the number of users to take this portion will be, and the longer the time needed to cross the edge will be. In this case, the function $`f`$ does not depend on $`i`$ and is increasing in the second variable.

The next result gives the existence of an asymptotic shape in this context. In other words,the travals times for a client of $`C_i`$ will give raise to a deterministic asymptotic shape that does not on the random environment (neither his company road network, nor the other networks), but only on the densities $`(p_i)_{1_lein}`$ of the distinct networks and on the function $`f`$. The same result is of course available for the cost point of view.

###### Theorem 7.4.

Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }=(\mathrm{\Omega }_S)^n`$ and $`=_{p_1}\times _{p_2}\mathrm{}\times _{p_n}`$, with $`p_i>p_c`$ for each $`i\{1,\mathrm{},n\}`$ and $`f:\{1,\mathrm{},n\}\times \{0,\mathrm{},n\}_+`$ with $`f(i,n)>0`$ as soon as $`n0`$. We say that two points $`k`$ and $`l`$ of $`^d`$ are $`i`$-connected if there is a path between $`k`$ and $`l`$ such that $`\omega _{e,i}=1`$ for each bond $`e`$ which is used in the path. For $`x^d`$, we denote by $`C_i(x)`$ the $`i`$-connected component of $`x`$. Let us also define for $`e=\{a,b\}𝔼^d`$:

$$\eta _e=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\omega _{e,i}11_{|C_i(a)|+|C_i(b)|=+\mathrm{}}$$

As before, for $`(\omega ,\eta )\mathrm{\Omega }`$, and $`(x,y)^d\times ^d`$, we define the travel time $`d_i(x,y)(\omega ,\eta )`$ to be

$$\underset{\gamma }{inf}\underset{e\gamma }{}f(i,\eta _e),$$

where the infimum is taken on the set of paths whose extremities are $`x`$ and $`y`$ and that are $`i`$-open in the configuration $`\omega `$. For $`t0`$ and $`i\{1,\mathrm{},d\}`$, we note

$$B_t^i=\{k^d;d_i(0,k)t\}.$$

For $`i\{1,\mathrm{},d\}`$, let us note by $`\overline{}_i`$ the probability measure defined by

$$\overline{}_i(A)=\frac{(A\{|C_i(0)|=+\mathrm{}\})}{(|C_i(0)|=+\mathrm{})}.$$

Then, there is a convex compact set $`A`$ with non-empty interior such that

$$\underset{t+\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{B_t}{t}=A\overline{}_i\text{ a.s.}$$

where the convergence holds for Hausdorff’s topology.

###### Proof.

Fix $`i\{1,\mathrm{},n\}`$. For $`e=\{a,b\}𝔼^d`$, let us define

$$\eta _e^{}=f(i,1+\underset{j\{1,\mathrm{},n\}\backslash \{i\}}{}\omega _{e,j}11_{|C_j(a)|+|C_j(b)|=+\mathrm{}})$$

and the travel time $`d^{}(x,y)(\omega ,\eta )`$ to be

$$\underset{\gamma }{inf}\underset{e\gamma }{}\eta _e^{},$$

where the infimum is taken on the set of paths whose extremities are $`x`$ and $`y`$ and that are $`i`$-open in the configuration $`\omega `$. For $`t0`$, we note

$$B_t^{}=\{k^d;d^{}(0,k)t\}.$$

It is clear that

$$\overline{}_i(t0B_t^i=B_t^{})=1.$$

Since the passage time $`(\eta _e^{})_{e𝔼^d}`$ are independent from the environment $`(\omega _{k,i})_{k^d}`$, it will be possible to use the preceding theorems.

The first step is to check that the law of $`(\eta _e^{})_{e𝔼^d}`$ is shift-invariant and ergodic under the translations of $`^d`$. Obviously

$$\begin{array}{c}\\ \\ j\{1,\mathrm{},n\}\backslash \left\{i\right\}\end{array}_{p_j}=\left(\begin{array}{c}\\ \\ j\{1,\mathrm{},n\}\backslash \left\{i\right\}\end{array}(1p_j)\delta _0+p_j\delta _1\right)^{𝔼^d}$$

is shift-invariant and ergodic under the translations of $`^d`$. For simplicity, we note $`L=\left(\begin{array}{c}\\ \\ j\{1,\mathrm{},n\}\backslash \left\{i\right\}\end{array}\delta _0+p_j\delta _1\right)^{𝔼^d}`$. We note

$$F(\omega )=\left(f(i,1+\underset{j\{1,\mathrm{},n\}\backslash \{i\}}{}\omega _{e,j}11_{|C_j(a(e))|+|C_j(b(e))|=+\mathrm{}})\right)_{e𝔼^d},$$

with the notation $`e=\{a(e),b(e)\}`$.

The law of $`(\eta _e^{})_{e𝔼^d}`$ is precisely the image of $`L`$ by the transformation $`F`$. Let us denote by $`S_\nu `$ this law. It is easy to see that $`F\theta _u=\theta _uF`$ holds for each $`u^d`$, so that we have the commuting diagram:

$$\begin{array}{ccc}(\{0,1\}^{n1})^{𝔼^d}& \stackrel{\theta _u}{}& (\{0,1\}^{n1})^{𝔼^d}\\ F& & F& & \\ (_+)^{𝔼^d}& \stackrel{\theta _u}{}& (_+)^{𝔼^d}\end{array}$$

For any event $`A((_+)^{𝔼^d})`$, we have

$`S_\nu (\theta _u^1(A))`$ $`=`$ $`L(F^1(\theta _u^1(A))`$
$`=`$ $`L((\theta _uF)^1(A))`$
$`=`$ $`L((F\theta _u)^1(A))`$
$`=`$ $`L(\theta _u^1(F^1(A))`$
$`=`$ $`L(F^1(A))=S_\nu (A).`$
Then, $`S_\nu `$ is invariant under the translations.

It is now clear that the dynamical system $`((_+)^{𝔼^d},((_+)^{𝔼^d}),S_\nu ,\theta _u)`$ is a factor of the dynamical system $`((\{0,1\}^{n1})^{𝔼^d},((\{0,1\}^{n1})^{𝔼^d}),L,\theta _u)`$. Since the dynamical system $`((\{0,1\}^{n1})^{𝔼^d},((\{0,1\}^{n1})^{𝔼^d}),L,\theta _u)`$ is ergodic, it follows that the dynamical system $`((_+)^{𝔼^d},((_+)^{𝔼^d}),S_\nu ,\theta _u)`$ is ergodic too.

Now, since $`\mathrm{min}f(i,1+.)>0`$ and $`\mathrm{max}f(i,1+.)<+\mathrm{}`$, the conclusion follows from the remark that we have done before the proof of theorem 5.3. ∎