Student Probability Seminar

---

Entropic Repulsion in the SOS model

Speaker: Joseph Chen, Courant (NYU)

Location: Warren Weaver Hall 517

Date: Monday, October 16, 2023, 12:30 p.m.

Synopsis:

The SOS model is a height function model with nearest neighbor interactions. One of the reasons it is of interest to study is that it is a good approximation for the Ising model at low temperatures (in the coexisting phases setting). I will be talking about the phenomenon of entropic repulsion: if we impose a “floor”, which mathematically means we condition on the event that all the heights are non-negative, then the model repels away from this floor. I aim to make this talk very accessible so that everyone can understand the general mechanisms causing entropic repulsion, even if you’ve never heard of it or the SOS model before.