Pinning of interfaces in a random elastic medium and logarithmic lattice embeddings in percolation

Abstract

For a model of a driven interface in an elastic medium with random obstacles we prove existence of a stationary positive supersolution at non-vanishing driving force. This shows the emergence of a rate independent hysteresis through the interaction of the interface with the obstacles, despite a linear (force=velocity) microscopic kinetic relation. We also prove a percolation result, namely the possibility to embed the graph of an only logarithmically growing function in a next-nearest neighbor site-percolation cluster at a non-trivial percolation threshold.

29 pages, 3 figures