Dimer Models and Conformal Structures

Abstract

In this work we study the variational problem associated to dimer models, a class of models from integrable probability and statistical mechanics in dimension two which have been the focus of intense research efforts over the last decades. These models give rise to an infinite family of non-differentiable functionals on Lipschitz functions with gradient constraint, determined by solutions of the Dirichlet problem on compact convex polygons for a class of Monge-Amp\`ere equations. We settle a number or outstanding open questions for this infinite class functionals. In particular we prove a complete classification of the regularity of minimizers, also known as height functions, for all dimer models for a natural class of polygonal (simply or multiply connected) domains much studied in numerical simulations and elsewhere. Our classification in particular implies that the Pokrovsky-Talapov law holds for all dimer models at a generic point on the frozen boundary and in addition shows a very strong local rigidity of dimer models which can be interpreted as a geometric universality result. Furthermore, we give a complete classification of the regularity of the associated free boundary, also known in the literature as frozen boundary or arctic curves and prove that they are all algebraic curves. The lack of differentiability of the functionals is intimately connected to the boundary behaviour of the solutions to the Monge-Amp\`ere equations and we prove a complete classification for these, of independent interest.