Combinatorial criteria for uniqueness of Gibbs measures

We generalize previously known conditions for uniqueness of the Gibbs measure in statistical physics models by presenting conditions of any finite size for models on any underlying graph. We give two dual conditions, one requiring that the total influence on a site is small, and the other that the total influence of a site is small. Our proofs are combinatorial in nature and use tools from the analysis of discrete Markov chains, in particular the path coupling method. The implications of our conditions for the mixing time of natural Markov chains associated with the models are discussed as well. We also present some examples of models for which the conditions hold. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2005