A Hard-Core Model on a Cayley Tree: An Example of a Loss Network

The paper is about a nearest-neighbor hard-core model, with fugacity λ>0, on a homogeneous Cayley tree of order k(with k+1 neighbors). This model arises as as a simple example of a loss network with a nearest-neighbor exclusion. We focus on Gibbs measures for the hard core model, in particular on ‘splitting’ Gibbs measures generating a Markov chain along each path on the tree. In this model, ?λ>0 and k≥1, there exists a unique translation-invariant splitting Gibbs measure μ^*. Define λ_c=1/(k?1)×(k/(k?1)) ^k . Then: (i) for λ≤λ_c, the Gibbs measure is unique (and coincides with the above measure μ^*), (ii) for λ>λ_c, in addition to μ^*, there exist two distinct translation-periodic measures, μ₊and μ_?, taken to each other by the unit space shift. Measures μ₊and μ_?are extreme ?λ>λ_c. We also construct a continuum of distinct, extreme, non-translational-invariant, splitting Gibbs measures. For $\lambda >1/(\sqrt k - 1) \times (\sqrt k /\sqrt k - 1))^k $ , measure μ^*is not extreme (this result can be improved). Finally, we consider a model with two fugacities, λ_eand λ_o, for even and odd sites. We discuss open problems and state several related conjectures.