The tortuosity of occupied crossings of a box in critical percolation

We consider the length of an occupied crossing of a box of size 0,n]×0, 3n] ^D–1 (in the short direction) in standard (Bernoulli) bond percolation on ^D at criticality. Let ¦s _n¦ be the length of the shortest such crossing. It is believed that ¦s _n¦ ^1+c in some sense for somec>0. Here we show that if the correlation length(p) satisfies (p)p _c}–p) ^– for some <1, then with a probability tending to 1, ¦s _n¦>/C ₁ n ^1/(logn)^–(1–)/. The assumption (p)C ₃(p _c–p)^– with <1 has been rigorously established^(1,2) for largeD, but cannot hold⁽³⁾ forD=2. In the latter case, let ¦l _n¦ be the length of the lowest occupied crossing of the square 0,n]². We outline a proof ofP _pc(¦l_n¦ n ^1+c)n ^– for somec, >0. We also obtain a result about the length of optimal paths in first-passage percolation.