Percolation for low energy clusters and discrete symmetry breaking in classical spin systems

We consider classical lattice systems in two or more dimensions with general state space and with short-range interactions. It is shown that percolation is a general feature of these systems: If the temperature is sufficiently low, then almost surely with respect to some equilibrium state there is an infinite cluster of spins trying to form a ground state. For systems having several stable sets of symmetry-related ground states we show that at low temperatures spontaneous symmetry breaking occurs because in a two-dimensional subsystem there is a unique infinite cluster of this type.