%% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- %% %% Macro 1.1 - agg: 11-5-95 %% %% %% %% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- %% %% Equazioni con nomi simbolici %% %% $$ x=1 \Eq(ciccio) $$ %% By \equ(ciccio) we get ... %% %% Dentro \eqalignno invece di \Eq si usa \eq. %% Per far riferimento ad una formula definita nel futuro: \eqf %% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- %% %% Teoremi con nomi simbolici %% %% \nproclaim Proposition[peppe]. %% If bla bla, then blu blu. %% %% {\it Proof.} It is easy to check that ... %% %% Because of Proposition \thm[peppe], we know that ... %% %% Per far riferimento ad un teorema definito nel futuro: \thf %% Per far riferimento a formule o teoremi definiti in altri file %% di cui si dispone il .aux, includere lo statement %% \include{file} %% e usare \eqf o \thf %% %% Se e' presente il comando \BOZZA, viene stampato sul margine %% sinistro il nome simbolico della formula (o del teorema). %% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- %% %% All'inizio di ogni sezione includere %% %% \expandafter\ifx\csname sezioniseparate\endcsname\relax% %% \input macro \fi %% \numsec=n %% \numfor=1\numtheo=1\pgn=1 %% %% dove n e' il numero della sezione %% Le Appendici hanno numeri negativi (\numsec=-1, -2, ecc...) %% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- %% %% Fonti %% %% Vengono caricate le fonti msam, msbm, eufm. Se non sono %% disponobili commentare lo statement \fnts=1 %% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% FORMATO \magnification=\magstep1 \hoffset=0.5truecm \voffset=0.5truecm \hsize=16.5truecm \vsize=22.0truecm \baselineskip=14pt plus0.1pt minus0.1pt \parindent=25pt \lineskip=4pt\lineskiplimit=0.1pt \parskip=0.1pt plus1pt \let\ds=\displaystyle \let\txt=\textstyle \let\st=\scriptstyle \let\sst=\scriptscriptstyle %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% FONTS \font\twelverm=cmr12 \font\twelvei=cmmi12 \font\twelvesy=cmsy10 \font\twelvebf=cmbx12 \font\twelvett=cmtt12 \font\twelveit=cmti12 \font\twelvesl=cmsl12 \font\ninerm=cmr9 \font\ninei=cmmi9 \font\ninesy=cmsy9 \font\ninebf=cmbx9 \font\ninett=cmtt9 \font\nineit=cmti9 \font\ninesl=cmsl9 \font\eightrm=cmr8 \font\eighti=cmmi8 \font\eightsy=cmsy8 \font\eightbf=cmbx8 \font\eighttt=cmtt8 \font\eightit=cmti8 \font\eightsl=cmsl8 \font\seven=cmr7 \font\sixrm=cmr6 \font\sixi=cmmi6 \font\sixsy=cmsy6 \font\sixbf=cmbx6 \font\caps=cmcsc10 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% font ams %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% GRECO \let\a=\alpha \let\b=\beta \let\c=\chi \let\d=\delta \let\e=\varepsilon \let\f=\varphi \let\g=\gamma \let\h=\eta \let\k=\kappa \let\l=\lambda \let\m=\mu \let\n=\nu \let\o=\omega \let\p=\pi \let\ph=\varphi \let\r=\rho \let\s=\sigma \let\t=\tau \let\th=\vartheta \let\y=\upsilon \let\x=\xi \let\z=\zeta \let\D=\Delta \let\F=\Phi \let\G=\Gamma \let\L=\Lambda \let\Th=\Theta \let\O=\Omega %\let\P=\Pi \let\Ps=\Psi \let\Si=\Sigma \let\X=\Xi \let\Y=\Upsilon %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% CALLIGRAFICHE % \def\cA{{\cal A}} \def\cB{{\cal B}} \def\cC{{\cal C}} \def\cD{{\cal D}} \def\cE{{\cal E}} \def\cF{{\cal F}} \def\cG{{\cal G}} \def\cH{{\cal H}} \def\cI{{\cal I}} \def\cJ{{\cal J}} \def\cK{{\cal K}} \def\cL{{\cal L}} \def\cM{{\cal M}} \def\cN{{\cal N}} \def\cO{{\cal O}} \def\cP{{\cal P}} \def\cQ{{\cal Q}} \def\cR{{\cal R}} \def\cS{{\cal S}} \def\cT{{\cal T}} \def\cU{{\cal U}} \def\cV{{\cal V}} \def\cW{{\cal W}} \def\cX{{\cal X}} \def\cY{{\cal Y}} \def\cZ{{\cal Z}} %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% mie \def\text#1{\hbox{\rm #1}} \def\minug{\leq} \def\magg{\geq} \def\zGo{{\z^{\G}_o}} \def\zgo{\z^{\g}_o} \def\zunozero{\zeta^{1}_o} \def\zGuno{\zeta^{\G}_1} \def\zguno{\zeta^{\g}_1} \def\zunouno{\zeta^{1}_1} \def\xgo{\xi^{\g}_o} \def\xunozero{\xi^{1}_o} \def\xguno{\xi^{\g}_1} \def\xunouno{\xi^{1}_1} \def\Go{\Gamma_o} \def\go{\gamma_o} \def\Guno{\Gamma_1} \def\guno{\gamma_1} \def\Gro{e^{-\b{\G_o}}} \def\gro{e^{-\b{\g_o}}} \def\Gruno{e^{-\b{\G_1}}} \def\gruno{e^{-\b{\g_1}}} \def\gmezzi{\frac{\g_0}{2}} \def\minus{-\underline 1} \def\menouno{\minus} \def\zero{\underline 0} \def\plus{+\underline 1} \def\piuuno{\plus} \def\k{\kappa} \def\kc{\kappa_{\c}} \def\Zdue{{{\Bbb Z}^2}} \def\Zd{{{\Bbb Z}^d}} \def\P{{\Bbb P}} \def\R{{\Bbb R}} \def\E{{\Bbb E}} \def\Gr{e^{-\b\G}} \def\gr{e^{-\b\g}} \def\st{\widetilde \s} \def\sh{\hat \s} \def\sc{\check \s} \def\rt{e^{\b\kc}} % relaxation time \def\0{\text{\bf 0}} \def\bl{\text{\sl Blue}} % Blue \def\Bbar{\overline B} \def\GG{\Cal G} \def\goodB{\B_\good} \def\goodBx{\good_{B,x}} \def\subheading{\bf} \def\frac#1#2{{#1\over#2}} %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% figure % \newdimen\xshift \newdimen\yshift \newdimen\xwidth % \def\eqfig#1#2#3#4#5#6{ \par\xwidth=#1 \xshift=\hsize \advance\xshift by-\xwidth \divide\xshift by 2 \yshift=#2 \divide\yshift by 2 \vbox{ \line{\hglue\xshift \vbox to #2{ \smallskip \vfil#3 \special{psfile=#4.ps} } \hfill\raise\yshift\hbox{#5} } \smallskip \centerline{#6} } \smallskip } % \def\figini#1{ \def\8{\write13} \catcode`\%=12\catcode`\{=12\catcode`\}=12 \catcode`\<=1\catcode`\>=2 \openout13=#1.ps} \def\figfin{ \closeout13 \catcode`\%=14\catcode`\{=1 \catcode`\}=2\catcode`\<=12\catcode`\>=12} %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Numerazione pagine % \def\data{\number\day/\ifcase\month\or gennaio \or febbraio \or marzo \or aprile \or maggio \or giugno \or luglio \or agosto \or settembre \or ottobre \or novembre \or dicembre \fi/\number\year} %%\newcount\tempo %%\tempo=\number\time\divide\tempo by 60} \setbox200\hbox{$\scriptscriptstyle \data $} \newcount\pgn \pgn=1 \def\foglio{\veroparagrafo:\number\pgn \global\advance\pgn by 1} %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% EQUAZIONI E TEOREMI CON NOMI SIMBOLICI \global\newcount\numsec \global\newcount\numfor \global\newcount\numfig \global\newcount\numtheo \gdef\profonditastruttura{\dp\strutbox} \def\senondefinito#1{\expandafter\ifx\csname#1\endcsname\relax} \def\SIA #1,#2,#3 {\senondefinito{#1#2}% \expandafter\xdef\csname #1#2\endcsname{#3}\else \write16{???? ma #1,#2 e' gia' stato definito !!!!}\fi} \def\etichetta(#1){(\veroparagrafo.\veraformula) \SIA e,#1,(\veroparagrafo.\veraformula) \global\advance\numfor by 1 \write15{\string\FU (#1){\equ(#1)}} \write16{ EQ \equ(#1) == #1 }} \def\FU(#1)#2{\SIA fu,#1,#2 } \def\tetichetta(#1){{\veroparagrafo.\verotheo}% \SIA theo,#1,{\veroparagrafo.\verotheo} \global\advance\numtheo by 1% \write15{\string\FUth (#1){\thm[#1]}}% \write16{ TH \thm[#1] == #1 }} \def\FUth(#1)#2{\SIA futh,#1,#2 } \def\getichetta(#1){Fig. \verafigura \SIA e,#1,{\verafigura} \global\advance\numfig by 1 \write15{\string\FU (#1){\equ(#1)}} \write16{ Fig. \equ(#1) ha simbolo #1 }} \newdimen\gwidth \def\BOZZA{ \def\alato(##1){ {\vtop to \profonditastruttura{\baselineskip \profonditastruttura\vss \rlap{\kern-\hsize\kern-1.2truecm{$\scriptstyle##1$}}}}} \def\galato(##1){ \gwidth=\hsize \divide\gwidth by 2 {\vtop to \profonditastruttura{\baselineskip \profonditastruttura\vss \rlap{\kern-\gwidth\kern-1.2truecm{$\scriptstyle##1$}}}}} \def\talato(##1){\rlap{\sixrm\kern -1.2truecm ##1}} } \def\alato(#1){} \def\galato(#1){} \def\talato(#1){} \def\veroparagrafo{\ifnum\numsec<0 A\number-\numsec\else \number\numsec\fi} \def\veraformula{\number\numfor} \def\verotheo{\number\numtheo} \def\verafigura{\number\numfig} %\def\geq(#1){\getichetta(#1)\galato(#1)} \def\Thm[#1]{\tetichetta(#1)} \def\thf[#1]{\senondefinito{futh#1}$\clubsuit$[#1]\else \csname futh#1\endcsname\fi} \def\thm[#1]{\senondefinito{theo#1}$\spadesuit$[#1]\else \csname theo#1\endcsname\fi} \def\Eq(#1){\eqno{\etichetta(#1)\alato(#1)}} \def\eq(#1){\etichetta(#1)\alato(#1)} \def\eqv(#1){\senondefinito{fu#1}$\clubsuit$(#1)\else \csname fu#1\endcsname\fi} \def\equ(#1){\senondefinito{e#1}$\spadesuit$(#1)\else \csname e#1\endcsname\fi} \let\eqf=\eqv % ------------------------------------------------------------------------- % % Numerazione verso il futuro ed eventuali paragrafi % precedenti non inseriti nel file da compilare % \def\include#1{ \openin13=#1.aux \ifeof13 \relax \else \input #1.aux \closein13 \fi} \openin14=\jobname.aux \ifeof14 \relax \else \input \jobname.aux \closein14 \fi \openout15=\jobname.aux % ------------------------------------------------------------------------- % % \def\fine{\vfill\eject} \def\sezioniseparate{% \def\fine{\par \vfill \supereject \end }} % ------------------------------------------------------------------------- % \footline={\rlap{\hbox{\copy200}\ $[\number\pageno]$}\hss\tenrm \foglio\hss} % ---------------- fonti disponibili --------------------------- % \newcount\fnts \fnts=0 \fnts=1 %-----comment if fonts msam, msbm, eufm are not available %------------------------- Altre macro da chiamare ------------ % \def\page{\vfill\eject} \def\smallno{\smallskip\noindent} \def\medno{\medskip\noindent} \def\bigno{\bigskip\noindent} \def\acapo{\hfill\break\noindent} \def\thsp{\thinspace} \def\x{\thinspace} \def\tthsp{\kern .083333 em} \def\mathindent{\parindent=50pt} \def\club{$\clubsuit$} \def\?{\mskip -10mu} %------------------------ itemizing % \let\itemm=\itemitem \def\bu{\smallskip\item{$\bullet$}} \def\bul{\medskip\item{$\bullet$}} \def\indbox#1{\hbox to \parindent{\hfil\ #1\hfil} } \def\citem#1{\item{\indbox{#1}}} \def\citemitem#1{\itemitem{\indbox{#1}}} \def\litem#1{\item{\indbox{#1\hfill}}} \def\ref[#1]{[#1]} \def\beginsubsection#1\par{\bigskip\leftline{\it #1}\nobreak\smallskip \noindent} \newfam\msafam \newfam\msbfam \newfam\eufmfam % -------------------------------------------------- math macros -------- % \ifnum\fnts=0% ------------Se non ci sono le fonti % \def\bZ{ { {\rm Z} \mskip -6.6mu {\rm Z} } } \def\bN{ { {\rm N} \mskip -6.6mu {\rm N} } } \def\bR{{\rm I\!R}} \def\bb{ \vrule height 6.7pt width 0.5pt depth 0pt } \def\bC{ { {\rm C} \mskip -8mu \bb \mskip 8mu } } \def\bE{{\rm I\!E}} \def\bP{{{\rm I\!P}} \def\mbox{ \vbox{ \hrule width 6pt \hbox to 6pt{\vrule\vphantom{k} \hfil\vrule} \hrule width 6pt} } \def\QED{\par\rightline{ \ifhmode\unskip\nobreak\fi\quad \ifmmode\mbox\else$\mbox$\fi}} \let\restriction=\lceil % \else% ------ o se ci sono % \def\hexnumber#1{% \ifcase#1 0\or 1\or 2\or 3\or 4\or 5\or 6\or 7\or 8\or 9\or A\or B\or C\or D\or E\or F\fi} % \font\tenmsa=msam10 \font\sevenmsa=msam7 \font\fivemsa=msam5 \textfont\msafam=\tenmsa \scriptfont\msafam=\sevenmsa \scriptscriptfont\msafam=\fivemsa % \edef\msafamhexnumber{\hexnumber\msafam}% \mathchardef\restriction"1\msafamhexnumber16 \mathchardef\square"0\msafamhexnumber04 \def\QED{\ifhmode\unskip\nobreak\fi\quad \ifmmode\square\else$\square$\fi} % \font\tenmsb=msbm10 \font\sevenmsb=msbm7 \font\fivemsb=msbm5 \textfont\msbfam=\tenmsb \scriptfont\msbfam=\sevenmsb \scriptscriptfont\msbfam=\fivemsb \def\Bbb#1{\fam\msbfam\relax#1} % \font\teneufm=eufm10 \font\seveneufm=eufm7 \font\fiveeufm=eufm5 \textfont\eufmfam=\teneufm \scriptfont\eufmfam=\seveneufm \scriptscriptfont\eufmfam=\fiveeufm \def\frak#1{{\fam\eufmfam\relax#1}} \let\goth\frak % \def\bZ{{\Bbb Z}} \def\bN{{\Bbb N}} \def\bR{{\Bbb R}} \def\bC{{\Bbb C}} \def\bE{{\Bbb E}} \def\bP{{\Bbb P}} \def\bI{{\Bbb I}} \fi % %------------------------------------------------------------------- % % ------- Per compatibilita' % \let\integer=\bZ \let\real=\bR \let\complex=\bC \let\Ee=\bE \let\Pp=\bP \let\Dir=\cE \let\Z=\integer \let\uline=\underline \def\Zp{{\integer_+}} \def\ZpN{{\integer_+^N}} \def\ZZ{{\integer^2}} \def\ZZt{\integer^2_*} % \let\neper=e \let\ii=i \let\mmin=\wedge \let\mmax=\vee \def\identity{ {1 \mskip -5mu {\rm I}} } \def\ie{\hbox{\it i.e.\ }} \let\id=\identity \let\emp=\emptyset \let\sset=\subset \def\ssset{\subset\subset} \let\setm=\setminus \def\nep#1{ \neper^{#1}} \let\uu=\underline \def\ov#1{{1\over#1}} \let\nea=\nearrow \let\dnar=\downarrow \let\imp=\Rightarrow \let\de=\partial \def\dep{\partial^+} \def\deb{\bar\partial} \def\tc{\thsp | \thsp} \let\<=\langle \let\>=\rangle % \def\xx{ {\{x\}} } \def\xy{ { \{x,y\} } } \def\pmu{\{-1,1\}} % \def\Pro{\noindent{\it Proof.}} % \def\sump{\mathop{{\sum}'}} \def\tr{ \mathop{\rm tr}\nolimits } \def\intt{ \mathop{\rm int}\nolimits } \def\ext{ \mathop{\rm ext}\nolimits } \def\Tr{ \mathop{\rm Tr}\nolimits } \def\ad{ \mathop{\rm ad}\nolimits } \def\Ad{ \mathop{\rm Ad}\nolimits } \def\dim{ \mathop{\rm dim}\nolimits } \def\weight{ \mathop{\rm weight}\nolimits } \def\Orb{ \mathop{\rm Orb} } \def\Var{ \mathop{\rm Var}\nolimits } \def\Cov{ \mathop{\rm Cov}\nolimits } \def\mean{ \mathop{\bf E}\nolimits } \def\EE{ \mathop\Ee\nolimits } \def\PP{ \mathop\Pp\nolimits } \def\diam{\mathop{\rm diam}\nolimits} \def\sign{\mathop{\rm sign}\nolimits} \def\prob{\mathop{\rm Prob}\nolimits} \def\gap{\mathop{\rm gap}\nolimits} % \def\tto#1{\buildrel #1 \over \longrightarrow} % \def\norm#1{ | #1 | } \def\scalprod#1#2{ \thsp<#1, \thsp #2>\thsp } \def\inte#1{\lfloor #1 \rfloor} \def\ceil#1{\lceil #1 \rceil} \def\intl{\int\limits} % \outer\def\nproclaim#1 [#2]#3. #4\par{\medbreak \noindent \talato(#2){\bf #1 \Thm[#2]#3.\enspace }% {\sl #4\par }\ifdim \lastskip <\medskipamount \removelastskip \penalty 55\medskip \fi} % \def\thmm[#1]{#1} \def\teo[#1]{#1} %------------------------------ tilde % \def\sttilde#1{% \dimen2=\fontdimen5\textfont0 \setbox0=\hbox{$\mathchar"7E$} \setbox1=\hbox{$\scriptstyle #1$} \dimen0=\wd0 \dimen1=\wd1 \advance\dimen1 by -\dimen0 \divide\dimen1 by 2 \vbox{\offinterlineskip% \moveright\dimen1 \box0 \kern - \dimen2\box1} } % \def\ntilde#1{\mathchoice{\widetilde #1}{\widetilde #1}% {\sttilde #1}{\sttilde #1}} %------------------------------------------------------------------- % %\sezioniseparate %----------- togliere quando si stampa tutto insieme %\BOZZA % %\let\g=\o % %------------------ per il Mac % \expandafter\ifx\csname introduzione\endcsname\relax% % \input macro \fi \numsec=0 \numfor=1\numtheo=1\pgn=1 % \bf{1. Introduction } \footline={\rlap{\hbox{\copy200}\ $[\number\pageno]$}\hss\tenrm \foglio\hss} \vskip 2cm \centerline{\bf RELAXATION PATTERNS FOR} \centerline{\bf COMPETING METASTABLE STATES:} \centerline{\bf A NUCLEATION AND GROWTH MODEL} \vskip 1cm \centerline{F.Manzo$^{(1)}$, E.Olivieri$^{(2)}$} \vskip 1cm {\it (1) Dipartimento di Matematica - II Universit\`a di Roma - Tor Vergata}\par {\it Via della Ricerca Scientifica - 00133 ROMA - Italy}\par E-mail: MANZO@MAT.UTOVRM.IT \bigskip {\it (2) Dipartimento di Matematica - II Universit\`a di Roma - Tor Vergata}\par {\it Via della Ricerca Scientifica - 00133 ROMA - Italy}\par E-mail: OLIVIERI@MAT.UTOVRM.IT \vskip 1cm {\ninerm \baselineskip=11pt {\ninebf Abstract} We study, at infinite volume and very low temperature, the relaxation mechanisms towards stable equilibrium in presence of two competing metastable states. Following Dehghanpour and Schonmann we introduce a simplified nucleation-growth irreversible model as an approximation for the stochastic Blume-Capel model, a ferromagnetic lattice system with spins taking three possible values: $-1, 0, 1$. Starting from the less stable state $\minus $ (all minuses) we look at a local observable. We find that, when crossing a special line in the space of the parameters, there is a change in the mechanism of transition towards the stable state $\plus$: we pass from a situation: \par\noindent 1) Where the intermediate phase $\zero$ is really observable before the final transition with a permanence in $\zero$ typically much longer than the first hitting time to $\zero$; \par \noindent to the situation: \par \noindent 2) Where $\zero$ is not observable since the typical permanence in $\zero$ is much shorter than the first hitting time to $\zero$ and, moreover, large growing $0$-droplets are almost full of $+1$ in their interior so that there are only relatively thin layers of zeroes between $+1$ and $-1$. } \vskip 3cm {\it Key words}: metastability, nucleation, Blume-Capel model \medskip {\it 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification.} Primary 60K35, 82A05 \vskip 1cm \vfill \eject \expandafter\ifx\csname sezioniseparate\endcsname\relax% \input macro \fi \numsec=1 \numfor=1\numtheo=1\pgn=1 {\bf Section 1. Introduction. }\par \vskip 1cm This note concerns the study, from the point of view of mathematical physics, of some problems arising in the context of metastability and nucleation. Metastability is a relevant phenomenon for thermodynamic systems close to a first order phase transition (like e.g. a vapour near its condensation point). Suppose that initially the system is in a pure thermodynamic phase and switch some thermodynamic parameter (like the specific volume ) to a value corresponding to the coexistence of two or more phases. In some particular experimental situations the system, instead of undergoing a phase transition, persists in a pure phase which is called {\it metastable}, in an apparent (wrong) equilibrium until an external perturbation or a spontaneous fluctuation leads to the formation and growth of suitable (in size and shape) nuclei of the stable phase inside the metastable phase. It is widely accepted that metastability cannot be included in the Gibbsian approach to the equilibrium statistical mechanics but, rather, it is a genuine dynamical phenomenon. Since a general theory of non-equilibrium statistical mechanical phenomena is still lacking, a particularly important role is played by microscopic models like Glauber dynamics (also called stochastic or kinetic Ising models) . We refer to [PL2] and [OS3] for a general discussion of metastability from a rigorous point of view. Here we only say that the heuristic description based on the competition between bulk and surface free energies leads to the introduction of the ``critical nucleus": droplets of the stable phase inside the metastable phase which are smaller than the critical nucleus tend to shrink whereas larger droplets tend to indefinitely grow. In [PL1] for the first time the dynamical and statical aspects of metastability were coupled in a rigorous way. The point of view of [PL1] can be called the one of ``evolution of ensembles"; metastability is mainly characterized, there, as a slow evolution of the averages over the process towards the stable equilibrium values. The study of the Glauber dynamics in the framework of this point of view was carried out in [CCO]. In [CGOV] a new ``pathwise approach" to metastability has been introduced where the analysis of the behaviour of typical trajectories has a crucial importance. The approach of [CGOV] turns out to be the starting point of many recent developments on the rigorous theory of metastability. In [MOS1], [MOS2], in the framework of the study of relaxation to equilibrium of infinite volume stochastic Ising models at low temperature and small magnetic field, some aspects of the decay from the metastable situation were analysed in terms of the formation of a suitable critical droplet. A complete analysis of metastability for the kinetic Ising model in large but finite volumes, with periodic boundary conditions, small but fixed magnetic field, in the limit of vanishing temperature was carried out in [NSch1], [NSch2] [Sch1]. The three-dimensional Ising model was studied in [N], [BC]. Different boundary conditions were studied in [CiL]. Different models, consisting in single spin flip markovian dynamics reversible w.r.t. the Gibbs measure corresponding to different hamiltonians, in the same asymptotic regime, were studied in [KO1], [KO2], [CiO], [NO]. In particular, as we will see, the paper in [CiO] refers to Blume--Capel model and is at the basis of the present work. The above described asymptotic regime can be called ``Freidlin-Wentzell regime", in analogy to the case of small random perturbations of dynamical systems (see [FW]). It is mainly relevant for the description of the local aspects of nucleation. As it has been pointed out in [Sch2], [Sch3], [SchSh], a much more interesting asymptotic regime, from a physical point of view, is the one corresponding, for the stochastic Ising model, to infinite volume, low but fixed temperature in the limit of vanishing magnetic field. It follows from the analysis developed by Schonmann in [Sch2] and [Sch3] that the prescriptions on metastable behaviour introduced in [CGOV] and in particular the asymptotic unpredictability of the transition are only suited for describing nucleation in finite volumes. Indeed they apply to a regime of ``single nucleation". In large enough or infinite volume we have the appearance and coalescence of many nuclei. The mechanism of transition is definitely different w.r.t. the one taking place in finite volume. In infinite volume the transition from the metastable to the stable situation, say, near the origin, is driven by the formation and subsequent long growth of supercritical droplets sufficiently far away from the origin rather than a nucleation close to it without a significant growth. In order for this more efficient mechanism to take place the system must have enough room at its disposal. In conclusion, we can say that finite and infinite volume metastable behaviors involve physically distinct phenomena, and also for the models whose finite volume metastability is known, the specific infinite volume features deserve investigation. \bigskip An interesting case is the one of a kinetic Ising system in infinite volume, small but fixed (say positive) magnetic field in the limit of vanishing temperature. It has been studied in [DSch1], [DSch2]. Let, for simplicity, the dimension of the lattice be $d=2$ and suppose to start from all minuses. The following heuristics is at the basis of the determination of the relaxation time $t_{rel}$, namely the typical time needed by the spin at the origin to become plus (see [DSch1], [DSch2]): At very low temperature droplets of pluses with squared shape play an overwhelming role. The growth of a squared droplet is ruled by two distinct mechanisms: \par\noindent 1) adding a unit square protuberance (with a plus spin) from the exterior to a face at the rate $e^{-\b\g}$ ($\b$ being the inverse temperature and $\g$ being the energy formation of this protuberance, namely the energy needed to flip a minus spin with one nearest neighbor plus); \par\noindent 2) filling up, at rate 1, of the exterior layer to which the protuberance belongs, starting from the sites nearest neighbor to the protuberance; the rate of this process is one since the energy needed to flip a minus spin with two positive nearest neighbors is non-positive. Suppose that $\G$ is the energy formation of a critical droplet so that $e^{-\b \G}$ is the probability per unit volume and per unit time of the formation of this critical droplet. Let $v$ be the speed of growth of the supercritical droplets. As we will see it is possible to show that $ v = e^{-{\b {\g\over 2}} }$. The relaxation time $t_{rel}$ can be deduced by the following argument: consider the space-time cone with height $t_{rel}$ and basis given by the square centered at the origin of side $vt_{rel}$ and time coordinate $0$. The order of magnitude of $t_{rel}$ can be deduced by: $$ e^{-\b\G}(v t_{rel})^2t_{rel}\cong 1. \Eq (1.1) $$ One gets: $$ t_{rel}\cong e^{\b \frac{(\G +\g)}{3}} \Eq (1.2) $$ Notice that a similar argument applied to the displacement of a (one-dimensional) side yelds to the relation $ v \cong e^{-{\b {\g\over 2}} }$. Indeed now the dimension is $d=1$ and the speed of growth of a protuberance (to complete a new layer) is of order one and, finally, $\G$ must be replaced by the energy formation of a unit square protuberance, namely $\g$. The factor ${1\over 3}$ in the exponent in the r.h.s. of \equ (1.2) which for general dimension $d$ is $1/(d+1)$, drastically reduces the lifetime w.r.t. the finite volume situation. See [DSch] for more details. \bigskip The present paper concerns the study of metastability and nucleation in the framework of a simplified dynamical Blume-Capel model. Blume-Capel model describes a spin system on $\Z^d$ where the single spin variable can take three possible values: $-1,0,+1$. It was originally introduced to study the $He^3- He^4 $ phase transition. One can think of it as a system of particles with spin. The value $\s_x = 0$ of the spin at the lattice site $x$ will correspond to absence of particles (a ``vacancy"), whereas the values $\s_x = +1, -1$ will correspond to the presence, at $x$, of a particle with spin $+1, -1$, respectively. The formal hamiltonian is given by: $$ H(\sigma)=J\sum_{}(\sigma_{x}-\sigma_{y})^{2}-\lambda\sum_{x} \sigma_{x}^{2}-h\sum_{x}\sigma_{x}\;\; , \Eq (1.3) $$ where $\lambda$ and $h$ are two real parameters, having the meaning of the chemical potential and the external magnetic field, respectively; $J$ is a real positive constant (ferromagnetic interaction) and $$ denotes a generic pair of nearest neighbour sites in $\Zdue$. Let $ \menouno,\;\zero\;$ and $ \;\piuuno $ denote the configurations with all spins equal to$ \;-1,0,+1$, respectively. It is easy to see that for small enough $\l$ and $h$ these three configurations are local minima for the energy In [CiO] metastability and nucleation were studied for a two-dimensional Blume-Capel model in the above mentioned Freidlin-Wentzell asymptotic regime: system enclosed in a finite torus $\L$, with given $\l,h$, in the limit of zero temperature. The interesting region of parameters that was analysed in [CiO] is $$0 < |\l| < h \Eq (1.4)$$ with sufficiently small $h$ . In the whole region \equ (1.4) we have (in any finite volume) : $$ H(\menouno) > H(\zero) > H(\piuuno) $$ In other words $\menouno$ and $\zero$ are metastable whereas $\piuuno$ is stable. The main question that can be risen is, when starting from the highest metastable configuration $\menouno$, whether or not the system reaches the intermediate metastable configuration $\zero$ before relaxing to the stable configuration $\piuuno$. In finite volume the question is perfectly well posed . In [CiO] an answer was found in the Freidlin-Wentzell asymptotic regime. It has been shown, in [CiO], that there is a change in the mechanism of transition from $\menouno$ to $\piuuno$ when crossing the line $h=2\l$. On the right side of this line ($h < 2 \l$) the transition is {\it direct} i.e. the system is driven to $\piuuno$ via the formation of a special critical droplet: a squared ``picture frame" with suitably large size, made by a square of pluses encircled by a unit layer of zeroes in a sea of minuses. It is easy to see that a direct interface between minus and plus is unstable in our region of parameters. This explains the persistence of a thin layer of zeroes between the pluses and the minuses. In the other region ( $h > 2\l$) the transition is {\it indirect} in the sense that the system first reaches the $\zero$ configuration via the formation of a supercritical squared droplet of zeroes in a sea of minuses. Subsequently, via the formation of a supercritical squared droplet of pluses in a sea of zeroes, the system is driven to the final stable state $\piuuno$. In this region of parameters $h >2\l$ the two transitions are ``Ising-like" whereas in the previous region $h < 2\l$ the mechsnism of transition and in particular the associated interface dynamics are much more complicated. As we argued before, it is natural to pose the problem of the behavior of the kinetic two-dimensional Blume-Capel model in infinite volume and, in particular, in the Dehghanpour-Schonmann regime ($\beta \to \infty$ for small but fixed $\l$ and $h$ in infinite volume). In particular one asks himself whether the sort of ``dynamical phase transition" that has been detected in finite volume persists and in which form in infinite volume. One easily realizes that it is reasonable to expect a change in the mechanism of transition over the line $\l = 0$. Indeed passing from $\l<0$ to $\l >0$ the local energy barrier between $\menouno$ and $\zero$ becomes higher than the local energy barrier between $\zero$ and $\piuuno$. Moreover the speed of growth of a droplet of pluses in a sea of zeroes becomes larger than the speed of growth of a droplet of zeroes in a sea of minuses. In other words one expects that, starting from $\menouno$ and looking at an observable localized close to the origin, for $\l<0$ one first sees a large droplet of zeroes coming from a large distance and after a much larger time one observes the arrival of a large droplet of pluses; on the contrary, for $\l>0$ the time of the first arrival of the zeroes near the origin is much longer than the time interval needed for the subsequent arrival of the pluses. One expects that, when a large droplet $\D$ of zeroes in a sea of minuses is formed, quite soon many nuclei of pluses inside $\D$ are formed; moreover, due to the difference in speed, these pluses are likely to grow much faster than the zeroes grow inside the sea of minuses so that we expect that they rapidly almost reach the boundary of $\D$, leaving only a thin layer of zeroes. The complete proof of these conjectures appears quite complicated; in the present paper, following Dehghanpour and Schonmann, we introduce a simplified model which is nothing but an adaptation of the Ising-like simplified model introduced in [DSch1] to our Blume-Capel case. Only nucleation and growth of two species of particles (representing the zeroes and the pluses, respectively) will be allowed. Our dynamics is irreversible since the spins can olny grow: a zero cannot turn into a minus and a plus, once created, cannot be destroyed. To mimic the behavior of Blume-Capel model we only allow nucleation of pluses in sites which are surrounded by all nearest neighbors zero so that direct minus-plus interfaces are never permitted. As in the Dehghanpour-Schonmann model we take for simplicity the size of the critical droplets as 1. In the framework of our simplified irreversible model, using mainly results of references [DS], [KS], we are able to prove the above conjectures in a quite weak form, as it will appear clear from the precise statements contained in the theorems. We indeed prove (Theorems 1, 2 and 3) a change in the asymptotic behavior of the ratio between the time of first appearance of a zero at the origin, denoted by $\t_0$, and the time interval, denoted by $\t_{0+}$, between $\t_0$ and the first appearance of a $+$ at the origin. When $\t_{0+}<<\t_0$, we also give information on the shape of large droplets: we show, in Theorem 4, that large droplets of zeroes tend to be invaded by pluses in their interior so that, asymptotically, they become completely full of pluses with only a relatively thin layer of minuses between the internal pluses and the sea of minuses. Theorem 5 deals with the ``pursuit" of the zeroes made by the internal pluses as seen from the origin at time $\t_0$. The rest of the paper is organized in the following way: in Section 2 we will give definitions and precise results. In Section 3 we will prove Theorems 1, 2 and 3; in Section 4 we will prove Theorems 4 and 5. Section 5 contains a discussion of the results. \expandafter\ifx\csname sezioniseparate\endcsname\relax% \input macro \fi \numsec=2 \numfor=1\numtheo=1\pgn=1 \vskip 1cm {\bf Section 2. Definitions and results. } \bigskip In what follows we use $\lfloor a \rfloor$ to denote the integer part of the real number $a$ (i.e. the largest integer smaller than or equal to $a$) and by $\lceil a \rceil$ the smallest integer larger than or equal to $a$. \bigskip We construct our model using ``exponential clocks". To each site $x \in \Z^2$, we associate six independent exponential random variables $\zGo(x)$, $\zgo(x)$, $\zunozero(x)$, $\zGuno(x)$, $\zguno(x)$, and $\zunouno(x)$, of rates $\Gro$, $\gro - \Gro$, $1 - \gro$, $\Gruno$, $\gruno - \Gruno$, and $1 - \gruno$ respectively. The parameters $\G_i,\g_i$ have the meaning of activation energies of critical droplets and protuberances respectively. We will always assume \par \bigskip \noindent {\bf Hypothesis $H_0$:} \bigskip $$ \matrix{ \G_0 & > \;\g_0 \;>\;0\cr \G_1 & > \;\g_1 \;>\; 0\cr } \Eq(H0) $$ The meaning of \equ (H0) is that the formation rate of a protuberance is, exponentially in $\b$, larger than that of a new critical droplet. The choice of parameters corresponding to Blume--Capel model is made in the following way (see [CiO]):\par Let $\d':=\frac{2J}{h-\l}- \lfloor \frac{2J}{h-\l} \rfloor$ and $\d'':=\frac{2J}{h+\l}- \lfloor \frac{2J}{h+\l} \rfloor$. We have: $$\G_{0}^{BC}:=\frac{4 J^2}{h-\lambda} +2J -h+\l +h(\d'-{\d'}^2),$$ $$\Guno^{BC}:=\frac{4J^2}{h+\lambda} +2J -h-\l +h(\d''-{\d''}^2),$$ $$\g_{0}^{BC}:=2J-(h-\lambda),\Eq (2.0)$$ $$\guno^{BC}:=2J-(h+\lambda).$$ \bigskip Note that $\G^{BC}_{0} \magg 5 \g^{BC}_{0}$, $\G^{BC}_{1} \magg 5 \g^{BC}_{1}$. \bigskip Supposing to start from the $- \underline 1$ configuration, we recursively define the times of first appearance of $0$ and $+$ spin at the site $x$ as follows: let $V^{(i)}(x), i=1,2,$ be the first time when the minus site $x$ has at least $i$ $0$-neighbors (all other neighbours being $-1$) and let $U^{(i)}(x), i=1,2,$ be the first time when the zero site $x$ has at least $i$ ($+1$)-neighbors and no ($-1$)-neighbors. Then the transition time to $0$ of a minus site $x$ is simply defined to be $$V(x)=\min \{\zGo(x), V^{(1)}(x) + \zgo(x), V^{(2)}(x) + \zunozero(x) \}; \Eq (2.1)$$ the transition time of a zero site to $+1$ is: $$U(x)=\max_{y : |x-y|\minug 1} (V(y)) + \min \{\zGuno(x), U^{(1)}(x) + \zguno(x), U^{(2)}(x) + \zunouno(x) \}. \Eq (2.2)$$ \bigskip We call {\it acceptable} a configuration $\eta \in \{-1,0,+1\}^{\Z^2}$ with no pairs of nearest neighbours $-1,+1 $. It is easily seen that, starting from $\menouno$, with the above updating rule we only reach acceptable configurations. Using \equ (2.1), \equ (2.2), we can define the times of first appearance of zero and $+1$ starting from any acceptable configuration as well. \par Note that, by definition, the growth of a droplet of $0$ does not depend on the possible $+1$ inside the droplet. \bigskip We denote by $\s^\eta_{t}$ the process at time $t$ starting from the acceptable configuration $\eta$. Sometimes we omit the initial condition $\eta$ from notation if $\eta=-\underline 1$. Given the acceptable configuration $\eta \neq \menouno$, we denote by $\tilde {\s}^\eta_{t}$ the process, starting from $\h$, in which nucleation of isolated zeroes is not allowed, namely the transition time to zero of a negative site $x$ is: $$\tilde V(x)=\min \{V^{(1)}(x) + \zGo(x),V^{(1)}(x) + \zgo(x), V^{(2)}(x) + \zunozero(x) \} \Eq(tilde)$$ Note that we introduce the time $\zGo$ in \equ(tilde) in order to have the right transition rates and that this is not related with nucleation, i.e. with the appearance of an isolated zero which is forbidden. Finally, given a configuration $\eta$ free of minuses, $\eta \in \{0,1\}^\Zdue$, we denote by $\bar {\s}^\eta_{t}$ the Ising-like process on $\{0,1\}^\Zdue$, starting from $\h$, in which nucleation of isolated pluses is not allowed, namely the transition time to $+1$ of a zero site $x$ is: $$\bar U(x)= \min \{U^{(1)}(x) + \zGuno(x),U^{(1)}(x) + \zguno(x), U^{(2)}(x) + \zunouno(x) \}. \Eq (barra)$$ Beyond $\menouno$, we will consider two classes of auxiliary (acceptable) initial conditions $\eta_0^y$, $\eta_1^y$ ($y \in \bZ ^2$) defined, respectively, as: $$ \eta_0^y(x)=-1 \ \forall \;x \in \Zdue \backslash \{y\}, \ \eta_0(y)=0, \Eq(2.2o) $$ $$ \eta_1^y(x)=0 \ \forall \;x \in \Zdue \backslash \{y\}, \ \eta_1^y(y)=1. \Eq(2.2oo) $$ The configurations are naturally partially ordered as follows: $$\eta \le \eta' \text{ if } \eta(x) \le \eta'(x) \text{ for all } x \in \Z^2.$$ Note that the processes $\s^{\eta}_{t}$, $\s^{\eta '}_{t}$ are defined on the same probability space (of exponential clocks), so by attractiveness, if $\eta \leq \eta'$ are any two acceptable configurations, we have the following inequality for arbitrary $t \magg 0$: $$ \s^{\eta}_{t} \leq \s^{\eta'}_{t}. \Eq(fkg1) $$ Moreover: $$ \tilde \s^{\eta}_{t} \leq \s^{\eta}_{t} \Eq(fkg2) $$ $$ \bar \s^{\eta}_{t} \leq \s^{\eta}_{t}, \Eq(fkg3) $$ where in the last inequality $\eta$ is a configuration in $\{0,1\}^\Zdue$. Inequalities analogous to \equ(fkg1) also hold for the processes $\tilde\s^{\eta}_{t}$ and $\bar\s^{\eta}_{t}$ . For $x \in \Z^2$ we set $||x||_\infty := \max_{j=1,2} |x_j|$. Given an integer $i$ and $x \in \Z^2$, let $$Q_i(x) = \{y \in \Z^2: ||x-y||_\infty \leq i\}$$ be the squared box of side--length $2i+1$ centered at $x$ and $Q_i:=Q_i(0)$. For the process with initial condition $\minus$, let $$ \t_0:=V(0) $$ $$ \t_1:=U(0) $$ $$ \t_{0+}:=\t_1-\t_0. $$ We also set $$ k_0:=\max \left\{\g_0,\frac{\G_{0}+\g_{0}}{3} \right\}. \Eq(k0) $$ $$ k_{1}:=\max \left\{\g_{1},\frac{\G_{1}+\g_{1}}{3} \right\}. \Eq(k1) $$ As it has been shown by [DSch1] these are the logarithms, divided by $\b$, of the typical occupation times of the origin by the $0,+1$ spins starting from $-\underline {1}$, $\underline {0}$, respectively.\par We introduce, at this point, the quantity: $$ k^+:=\max \left\{k_1, \frac{\G_1+\g_0}{3},\g_0 \right\} \Eq (2.2') $$ We will show (see Proposition 1 below) that $e^{\b k^+}$ is an upper bound for the typical value of $\t_{0+}$ in the limit of large $\b$.\par \bigskip In the following Theorem DS, we give a reformulation, in the specific context of our model, of the main result obtained by Dehghanpour and Schonmann for their Ising-like nucleation and growth model. This theorem concerns the asymptotic behaviour, for large $\b$, of the first appearance of a zero (plus) at the origin starting from all minuses (zeroes). \bigskip {\bf Theorem DS} \bigskip {\it Let hypotesis $H_0$ be satisfied. then $$ \forall \; kk_0 \ \ \lim_{\b \to \infty} \P \left( \s^{- \underline 1}_{e^{\b k}}(0)>-1 \right)=1 \Eq (>k0) $$ $$ \forall \; kk_1 \ \ \lim_{\b \to \infty} \P \left( \s^{\underline 0}_{e^{\b k}}(0) = 1 \right)=1 \Eq (>k1) $$ } \bigskip {\bf Remark 1}:\par {\it Notice that equation} \equ(0$ such that $$ \lim_{\b \to \infty} \P \left(\frac{\t_{0+}}{\t_0}\magg e^{\b C} \right) = 1 \Eq (th1) $$ } Theorems 2, 3, 4 and 5 refer to the other region $ k_0 > k_1$ possibly with some further restrictions. \bigskip {\bf Theorem 2} \bigskip {\it Let hypothesis $H_0$ be satisfied. If $$ k_0 > k_1 $$ then $\forall \; k>k_0$ $$ \lim_{\b \to \infty} \P \left( \s^{- \underline 1}_{e^{\b k}}(0)=1 \right)=1 \Eq (th2) $$ } Theorem 2, together with Theorem 1 and Remark 1, asserts that there is a sort of ``dynamical phase transition" for $k_0=k_1$. Indeed in the region $k_0k0) and equation \equ (k1) $\forall \; k > k_1$ $$ \lim_{\b \to \infty} \P \left( \s_{e^{\b k}}(0)=1 \right)=1; \Eq (k0k1), for $k_1 < k$, it is $+1$. On the contrary, in the region $k_0>k_1$, the zero phase is ``not observable" in the sense that, as a consequence of \equ(0$, on a time-scale $e^{\b k}$, with high probability for large $\b$, we do not see the value zero for the spin at the origin: \noindent $\forall \; k \neq k_0$ $$ \lim_{\b \to \infty} \P \left( \s_{e^{\b k}}(0)=0 \right)=0; \Eq (k1k_1 \cr \G_0 & > \G_1 \cr \G_0 & \magg 2\g_0 \cr } \right. , \Eq(param1) $$ then $\exists \;C'>0$ such that $$ \lim_{\b \to \infty} \P \left(\frac{\t_{0+}}{\t_0}\minug e^{-\b C'} \right)=1 \Eq(th3) $$ } Theorem 1 and Theorem 3 imply (at least when $\G_0 > \G_1, \;\; \G_0 > 2 \g_0$) a stronger statement about the above described dynamical phase transition. Indeed they say that when going from $k_0 < k_1$ to $k_0 > k_1$, not only $\t_{0+}$ passes from a value typically larger than $\t_0$ to a value typically smaller than $\t_0$, but that this happens {\it exponentially in } $\b$.\par Notice that if $h>-\l>0$, $\G^{BC}_0,\G^{BC}_1,\g^{BC}_0$ and $\g^{BC}_1$ (see \equ(2.0) ) fulfil the hypoteses of Theorem 1 whereas if $h>\l>0$ they fulfil hypotheses of Theorems 2 and 3. In the following Theorem 4 we will consider the process $\tilde \s^{\eta_0^0}$ (see \equ (2.2o) ). Since nucleation of zeroes is not allowed, there is, in $\tilde \s^{\eta_0^0}$, only one droplet of zeroes (possibly containing pluses in its interior). \bigskip {\bf Theorem 4} \bigskip {\it Let $\G_0>\G_1$, $\g_0>\g_1$, $\G_{0} \magg 2 \g_{0}$, $\G_{1} \magg 2 \g_{1}$. Let $R^0_{ext}(t)$ be the smallest rectangle containing the unique droplet of zeroes in $\tilde \s^{\eta_0^0}$ at time $t$. Consider the process at time $t = e^{\b k}$ where $ k > k_1+\frac{\g_0}{2}$. Then there is a rectangle $R^1_{int}(t)$ inside $R^0_{ext}(t)$ with $\tilde\s^{\eta_0^0}_t(x)=1$ $\forall \; x \in R^1_{int}(t)$ and such that $\forall \; r < \min \{\frac{\g_0}{2},k-k_1-\frac{\g_0}{2} \}$, $$ \lim _{\b \to \infty} \P\left( \frac{\text{diam} (R^0_{ext}(t))}{\text{diam} (R^1_{int}(t))} \minug 1+C'' e^{- \b r} \right)\;=\;1 \Eq (2.10) $$ where $C''$ is a suitable positive constant. } \par Again the Hypotheses of Theorem 4 are fulfilled by Blume--Capel parameters in the region $h>\l>0$.\par The following Theorem 5 asserts that at time $\t_0$ the pluses are close to the origin more than $e^{\b k^+}$. This is by far an upper bound (since we can argue, using heuristic arguments, that coalescence between large droplets should not change too much the situation w.r.t. the case of a single droplet) but still shows that the first droplet that reaches the origin contains a wide droplet of pluses in its interior. \bigskip {\bf Theorem 5} \bigskip {\it Let $\G_0>\G_1+\g_0$, $\g_0>\g_1$, $\G_{0} \magg 2 \g_{0}$, $\G_{1} \magg 2 \g_{1}$, and $\forall \; \e>0$ let $\check L := e^{\b (k^+ +\e)}$; then $$ \P \left( \exists \; x \in Q_{\check L} : \s_{\t_0}(x)=1 \right) \to 1 \text{ as } \b \to \infty \Eq (2.11) $$ } The hypoteses of Theorem 5 are fulfilled by Blume--Capel parameters in the region $h>\l>0$ in the vicinities of the ``triple point" $h=\l=0$. In this case, which is the most interesting one, we have that $k^+$ is strictly smaller than $k_0$. In this case Theorem 5 says that, for sufficiently small $h$ and $\l$, when the first zero hits the origin the pluses are at a much smaller distance than the typical size of a zero droplet.\par \expandafter\ifx\csname sezioniseparate\endcsname\relax% \input macro \fi \numsec=3 \numfor=1\numtheo=1\pgn=1 \vskip 1cm {\bf Section 3. Proof of Theorems 1, 2 and 3.} \vskip 1cm {\it \bf Proof of theorem 1.} \bigskip This is a corollary of Theorem DS: By \equ(fkg1), we get $$\t_1\geq \min \{t : \s^{\underline 0}_{t}(0)=1\}. \Eq(3-3)$$ By Theorem DS (see \equ(>k0), \equ(0$, $$ \P \left( \t_0 < e^{\b(k_0 +\e)} \right) \to 1 $$ while $$ \P \left( \t_1 > e^{\b(k_1 -\e)} \right) \to 1 $$ Let us choose $\e < \frac{k_1-k_0}{2}$. We have: $$ \P \left( \frac{\t_{0+}}{\t_0}> { e^{\b(k_1-\e)} - e^{\b(k_0+\e)}\over e^{\b(k_0+\e)} }\right) \to 1 \;\;\hbox {\rm as } \;\;\b \; \to \; \infty \Eq (2.11') $$ This concludes the proof. \QED \bigskip We will sometimes make use of super-exponential estimates in $\b$ in the following way: we tile a square having exponential sidelength $e^{\b M}$ with smaller squares with exponential sidelength $e^{\b m}$. If $p k(M)$ and sufficiently large $\b$: $$\P(\t^o_{g}(L) > e^{\b k} ) \minug e^{-C_1 %\frac{1}{\b} e^{\b (k-k(M))} } \Eq (2.12)$$ } {\it Proof:} \bigskip We set $$s:=e^{\b k} \Eq (2.13)$$ and $$D:= \lceil e^{\beta \frac{\g_0}{2}} \rceil.$$ In order to estimate $\t^o_{g}$, we use a construction analogous to the one introduced in [DSch1] in the proof of Theorem DS: we fill the square one shell at a time, using a suitable number of sites becoming zero at rate $e^ {-\b \g_0}$ and then filling the other sites of the shell at rate $1$. The main differences with the work of Dehghanpour and Schonmann are that we consider the filling of squares larger than $D$ and that we obtain estimates decayng super-exponentially fast in $\b$. Let $\partial Q_i:=Q_i \backslash Q_{i-1}$ and denote by ${\cal C}_i$ the set of four sites at the corners of $Q_i$. In order to estimate the time of growth of $Q_i$ we split $\partial Q_i$ into suitable intervals $A^h_i$ (horizontal or vertical). An efficient way to fill a shell $\partial Q_i $ larger than $D$ is to divide it into intervals $A_i^h$ of length of order $D$ and wait until in each of them a first site is occupied so that all other sites can be subsequently occupied at rate $1$. Let $n_i:= 4\lceil \frac{2i-1}{D}\rceil$. Starting from the upper left corner, we split the upper side of $\partial Q_i$ into $n_i/4$ intervals $A_i^{h}$: if $2i-1 > D$ we take the first $n_i/4-1$ intervals of length $D$ and the last one of length larger or equal to $D$ but less than $2 D+1$; we continue clockwise by sequentially partitioning, with the same criterion, the other sides without the corners that we have previously considered. With this construction, if $2i-1 \minug D$, then $n_i=4$ and $A_i^h$ can be seen as the four sides of $Q_i$ (possibly without some of the corners in ${\cal C}_i$). Let us set $\hat A_i^h:=A_i^h \backslash {\cal C}_i$. Let $\Psi_L$ be the subset of $\bN ^L$ given by: $$\Psi_L:= \left\{ \underline{h} = (h_1,\dots , h_L)\; :\; {h}_1 \minug n_1,..., {h}_L \minug n_L \right\}$$ Let $$ {\check \t}_i^{h}:= \min_{x \in \hat A_i^{h}} \left\{ \zeta_0^{\gamma}(x) \right\} \Eq (2.13') $$ $$ {\hat \t}_i^{{h}}:= ({\check \t}_i^{{h}} +\sum_{y \in A^h_i} \zeta_0^{1}(y)) \Eq (2.14) $$ using inequality \equ(fkg1), we estimate from above $\t^o_{g}(L)$ as $$ \hat \t^o_g:= \max_{\underline h \in \Psi_L}\left\{ \sum_{i=1}^{L} {\hat \t}_i^{{h}_i} \right\} \Eq (2.14') $$ Note that in \equ(2.13') we use $\hat A^h_i$ instead $A^h_i$ because we need that every site that we consider has at least one zero neighbour. In what follows we will refer to the ``exponential Chebychev's inequality'' for a random variable $\xi$ as $$\P(\xi >s) \minug e^{-\theta s} \E(e^{\theta \xi}) \ \forall \;\theta >0, \ \ \ s \in \R$$ We split the proof into two cases: \item {1)} case $M = \frac{\g_0}{2}$ (so that $L=D$ and $k(M) = \g_0$). Consider $A_i^{h_i}$, $h_i=1,..,4$. We have: $$ \P \left( \sum_{i=1}^{D} \max_{{h}_i \minug 4} \left\{ {\check \t}_i^{{h}_i} + \sum_{y \in A_i^{{h}_i}} \zeta_0^1(y) \right\} > s \right) \minug $$ $$ \minug 4 \P \left(\sum_{i=1}^{D} \min_{j \minug 2i+1} \left\{\zeta_0^{\g}(x_j) \right\} > \frac{s}{2} \right) + \P \left( \sum_{j=1}^{(2 D+1)^2} \zeta^1_0 (x_j) > \frac{s}{2} \right)\Eq (2.15) $$ where in the r.h.s. of \equ(2.15) $\{\zeta^1_0 (x_j)\}_j$ as well as $\{\zeta^1_0 (x_j)\}_j$ are families of i.i.d. variables. We estimate both terms of \equ(2.15) as large deviations. Using the fact that the minimum among $N$ exponential variables of rate $\omega$ is an exponential variable with rate $\omega N$ and using exponential Chebychev's inequality with $\theta={e^{-\b \g_0}}$, we obtain $$ \hbox {\rm r.h.s. of \equ (2.15) } \minug 4 e^{- \theta \frac{s}{2}} \prod_{i=1}^{D} \left (\frac{1}{1-\frac{\theta}{(2i+1)e^{-\b \g_0}}}\right ) +e^{-\theta \frac{s}{2}} \left( \frac{1}{1-\theta} \right)^{(2 D+1)^2} \minug $$ $$ \minug e^{-c_1 e^{-\b \g_0} s} \left( c_2 e^{-\sum_{i=1}^{D} \log (1-\frac{1}{(2i+1)})} + c_3 e^{c_4 \b} \right) \minug $$ $$ \minug c_5 e^{-c_1 e^{-\b \g_0} s} \left( e^{{c_6} \sum_{i=1}^{D} \frac{1}{2i+1}} + e^{c_4 \b} \right) \minug $$ $$ \minug c_5 e^{-c_7 e^{\b ( k-k(M) )} } $$ where in the last inequality we used \equ (2.13) and $\sum_1^D 1/(2i+1)\sim \hbox {\rm const} \ \b$. \item 2) case $M > \frac{\g_0}{2}$ (so that $k(M) >\g_0$). Recalling \equ (2.14') we have: $$\P \left(\t_{g}^o(L) > s \right) \leq \P \left( \max_{\underline h \in \Psi_D} \left\{ \sum_{i=1}^D {\hat \t}_i^{h_i} \right\} > \frac{s}{2} \right)+ \P\left(\max_{\underline h \in \Psi_L} \left\{ \sum_{i=D+1}^{L} {\hat \t}_i^{h_i}\right\} > \frac{s}{2}\right) \Eq(3.9') $$ The first term in the r.h.s. of \equ(3.9') can be bounded as in case 1). To estimate the second one, we use exponential Chebychev's inequality with $\theta = \frac{1}{2}e^{-\beta \frac{{\gamma_0}}{2}}$. We have, for sufficiently large $\beta$: $$ \P \left( \sum_{i=D+1}^{L} {\hat \t}_i^{{h}_i} > e^{\b k} \right)= \P \left( \sum_{i=D+1}^{L} ({\check \t}_{i}^{{h}_i} +\sum_{y \in A_i^{{h}_i}}\zeta_0^1(y)) > e^{\b k} \right) \leq $$ $$ \leq e^{-c_8 e^{\beta (k-\frac{\g_0}{2})}} \prod_{i=D+1}^{L} \left \{ \E \left( e^{\frac{1}{2}e^{-\beta \frac{{\gamma_0}}{2}}{\check \t}_i^{{h}_i}} \right) \left [ \E \left( e^{\frac{1}{2}e^{-\beta \frac{\gamma_0}{2}}\zeta_0^1} \right)\right ]^{\vert A_i^{{h}_i} \vert} \right \}= $$ $$ = e^{-c_8 e^{\beta (k-\frac{\g_0}{2})}} \prod_{i=D+1}^{L} \left\{ \frac{e^{-\beta \gamma_0} \vert A_i^{{h}_i} \vert} {e^{-\beta \gamma_0} \vert A_i^{{h}_i} \vert - \frac{1}{2}e^{-\beta \frac{{\gamma_0}}{2}}} \left(\frac{1}{1- \frac{1}{2}e^{-\beta \frac{{\gamma_0}}{2}}} \right)^{2 D+1} \right\} \leq \Eq(prod) $$ $$ \leq e^{-c_9 e^{\beta (k-\frac{\g_0}{2})}}. $$ where, to get the last inequality we have bounded the generic term of the product in \equ(prod) by a constant independent of $\b$ and used that $k-\frac{\g_0}{2} > M$.\par So we get $$ \P \left( \max_{\underline h \in \Psi_L} \left( \sum_{i=D+1}^{L} {\hat \t}_i^{h_i} \right) > \frac{s}{2} \right) \leq \left( 4 \prod_{i=1}^{L}\lceil \frac{2i-1}{D}\rceil \right) e^{-c_9 e^{\beta (k-\frac{\g_0}{2})}} \leq $$ $$ \leq 4 e^{-c_9 e^{\beta (k-\frac{\g_0}{2})}} e^{e^{\b M} (\b M - \b \frac{\g_0}{2} + c_{10})} \minug 4 e^{-c_{11} e^{\beta (k-\frac{\g_0}{2})}} \minug 4 e^{-c_{11} e^{\beta (k-k(M))}} $$ The Lemma is then proved. \QED \bigskip {\bf Proof of Theorem 2} \bigskip Let us take $M = k_0 - {\g_0 \over 2}$ so that $k(M) = k_0$. We have, on one hand, for $t=\frac{1}{2} e^{\b k}$ and $k > k_0$: $$ \P \left( \lbrace \s_{t}(x)= - 1 \ \forall \; x \in Q_{L_0} \rbrace \right) \leq \left( \P \left( \zeta_{o}^{\G}(0) \minug t \right) \right)^{{L_0}^2} = e^{ -t e^{ - \beta \Gamma_0 } {L_0}^2 } $$ $$ = e^{-{1 \over 2}({e^{\b k} e^{-\b \G_0} e ^{-\b (2 k_0 - \g_0 )}})} \minug e^{-{1 \over 2} e^{\b(k-k_0)} }. \Eq (stimatauzerob) $$ On the other hand, from Lemma 1 we have $\forall \; y \in Q_{L_0}$: $$ \P \left ( \exists \; x \in Q_{L_0} : \tilde \s^{\h^y_0}_{t} (x) = -1 \right) \leq e^ { - C_1 e^{\b (k - k_0) }} \Eq (3.13') $$ >From \equ (fkg1), \equ (fkg2), \equ (stimatauzerob), \equ (3.13') we have that $\exists \; \bar C_1 >0$ : $$ \P \left ( \exists \; x \in Q_{L_0} : \s_{e^{\b k}} (x) = -1 \right) \leq e^ { - \bar C_1 e^{\b (k - k_0) }}. \Eq (3.13'') $$ Now, if $L_1 = e^{\b( k_1-\frac{\g_1}{2})} > L_0$ we can use the super-exponentially fast decay in $\b$ of the above estimate by tiling $Q_{L_1}$ with the translates of $Q_{L_0}$; if $L_{max}$ is the maximum between $L_0$ and $L_1$ we have that the probability that $Q_{L_{max}}$ contains minuses at time $t$ goes to $0$ as $\b \to \infty$. We can repeat the above arguments based on inequalities \equ (stimatauzerob), \equ (3.13') for the transition $ 0 \to 1$ to conclude the proof. \QED \bigskip Let, now $\g := \g_1 \vee \g_0$. In order to prove Theorem 3, we give an upper bound for $\t_{0+}$ in the following way: starting from a single zero at the origin, we consider a square of suitable side $L^+$ and we wait until no one of the spins of $Q_{L^+}$ is minus. Then we wait until a plus appears and finally we wait until the droplet originated by this plus grows and fills up of pluses the whole $Q_{L^+}$. For any $L^+$, we have $$\t_{0+} \minug \t^o_{g}(L^+) + \t^1_{b}(L^+) +\t^1_{g}(L^+), \Eq(3.12')$$ where $\t^o_{g}(L^+)$ is defined by \equ(tauzerog) while $$ \t^1_{b}(L^+):= \min\{t: \exists \;x \ \hbox {\rm such that} \ \s_t^{\underline{o}}(x)=+1\} $$ is the time needed by a $+1$ to appear in $Q_{L^+}$ if $Q_{L^+}$ is initially full of zeroes, and $$ \t^1_{g}(L^+):=\max_{y \in Q_{L^+}} \min \{t; \bar\s_t^{\eta_1^y}(x) =+1\ \forall \; x \in Q_{L^+}\} $$ is the maximum over $y$ of the time needed by the $+1$ droplet emerging from $y$ to invade the whole $Q_{L^+}$. Since $\t^0_{g}(L^+)$ and $\t^1_{g}(L^+)$ are typically smaller than $\max\{ L^+ e^{\b\frac{\g}{2}},e^{\b \g}\}$ (see Lemma 1) and $\t^1_{b}(L^+)$ is typically smaller than $ e^{\b \G_1}/(L^+)^2$ (see \equ(stimatauzerob)), the minimum of $\t^o_{g}(L^+) +\t^1_{b}(L^+) +\t^1_{g}(L^+)$ is achieved when $$ L^+ = e^{\b M^+} \text{ where } M^+ := \left\{ \matrix{ \frac{\G_1 - \frac{\g}{2}}{3} & \text{ if } \G_1 \magg 2 \g \cr \g /2 & \text{ if } \G_1 < 2 \g \cr} \right. \Eq(L+) $$ \bigskip By \equ(L+) and \equ(2.2'), we have that: $$ k^+ = M^+ +\frac{\g}{2}= \left\{ \matrix{ \frac{\G_1 +\g}{3} & \text{ if } \G_1 \magg 2 \g \cr \g & \text{ if } \G_1 < 2 \g \cr} \right. $$ On the basis of \equ(3.12'), in the following proposition we will give an upper bound on $\t_{0+}$. \bigskip {\bf Proposition 1} \bigskip {\it Let hypothesis $H_0$ be satisfied. $\forall \; k > k^+ \ \ \exists \; C,C'>0:$ $$ \P \left( \sigma_{\t_0+e^{\b k}}(0) \neq +1 \right) \minug C e^{-C' e^{\b (k-k^+)} } $$ } {\it Proof} Using inequality \equ(fkg1) $$ \P(\t_{0+} > e^{\b k}) \minug \P(\t^o_{g}(L^+) > \frac{1}{3} e^{\b k}) + \P(\t^1_{b}(L^+) > \frac{1}{3} e^{\b k}) + \P(\t^1_{g}(L^+) > \frac{1}{3} e^{\b k}) $$ The first and the third terms are estimated by using Lemma 1 and its analogous for the zero to plus transition, while the second one is estimated in the same way as in \equ(stimatauzerob) \QED \bigskip {\bf Proof of Theorem 3} We can conclude the proof of Theorem 3 by observing that this is a corollary of Proposition 1 since $k_0 > k^+$ if and only if the hypotheses of Theorem 3 are satisfied.\par \QED \vskip 1cm \expandafter\ifx\csname sezioniseparate\endcsname\relax% \input macro \fi \numsec=4 \numfor=1\numtheo=1\pgn=1 {\bf Section 4. Proof of theorems 3 and 4.} \bigskip To prove Theorem 4 we %will show that a droplet of zeroes larger than %$e^{\b (k_1-\frac{\g_1}{2})}$ %and not interacting with any other droplet, contains, in its interior, a %droplet of pluses %so large that the ratio between the sides of the two droplets goes to 1 %exponentially fast in $\b$. % %We will make use of the following \bigskip {\bf Lemma 2} \bigskip {\it Let $R_{a,b}$ be a rectangle of sides $\inte{e^{\b a}}$ and $\inte{e^{\b b}}$ with $a \magg b>0$, and let us consider an initial configuration only containing zeroes and minuses, such that there exists a \noindent {*-connected} set of zeroes (in the sense of site percolation) inside $R_{a,b}$ connecting both pairs of opposite sides of the rectangle.\par Let $$ \t_R := \min \{t : \s_t(x) \not = -1 \ \forall \; x \in R_{a,b}\} $$ Then $\forall \; k>a$ there is a constant $C$ such that $$ \P \left( \t_R > e^{\b k} \right) \minug e^{-C e^{\b k}} $$ Proof } It is sufficient to consider the Ising-like system with only minuses and zeroes obtained by neglecting the zero-plus transitions and freezing the spins outside $R_{a,b}$ to be minus (state space $\equiv \{ -1,0 \}^{R_{a,b}}$). By hypothesis there exists a *-connected path of zeroes that divides $R_{a,b}$ into (at most) four regions. Let $SE$ be the South-Eastern of these regions. The time to fill $SE$ is the same as the one needed to fill $SE$ starting from the configuration $\eta$ given by $\{\eta(x)=0 {\text{ for }} x \in R_{a,b}\backslash SE ,\ \eta(x)=-1 {\text{ elsewhere}}\}$; by \equ (fkg1), this is less than the time needed to fill the whole $R_{a,b}$ starting from the configuration in which the sides $N$ and $W$ are occupied by zeroes while the rest of $R_{a,b}$ is full of minuses. Using again \equ (fkg1) we start from the $NW$ corner and allow only ``diagonal growth": \par\noindent given $i\in \Z$, we consider sets of the form $$ A_i:=\left\{ x : x_2=x_1+i \right\} \cap R_{a,b} $$ Let $i'$ and $i''$, respectively, be the smallest and the largest $i$ such that $A_i$ is non-empty (so that $i''=i'+\inte{e^{\b a}} +\inte{ e^{\b b}}-1$) and define $$ \xi_i:=\max_{x \in A_i} \z_0^1(x) $$ if $A_{i-1}$ is full of zeroes, all sites of $A_i$ have two zero neighbours and can be filled at rate $1$, so that taking the sum over $i$ of $\xi_i$ corresponds to fill $R_{a,b}$ by filling the $A_i$ consecutively. Then $$ \P \left( \t_R > e^{\b k} \right) \minug \P \left( 4 \sum_{i=i'}^{i''} \xi_i > e^{\b k} \right) \minug $$ $$ \minug \left(e^{\b b} \right)^{2 e^{\b a}} \P \left( \sum_{i=1}^{\inte{e^{\b a}} + \inte{e^{\b b}}} \z_0^1(x_i) > {1 \over 4} e^{\b k} \right) \minug e^{-C e^{\b k}} $$ where we have used arguments similar to the ones used to prove Lemma 1 %to take the maximum out of the sum, and the fact that $|A_i|\minug e^{\b b}$. \QED \bigskip {\it \bf Proof of Theorem 4} \bigskip We will consider the process at times $\hat t$, $t'$, $t''$ defined as $\hat t :=t- e^{\b (k-r)}$, $t'=\hat{t} + c_1 e^{\b (k-\frac{\g_0}{2}+\e)}$, $t'':=t'+c_2 e^{\b (k_1+\e)}= \hat{t} + c_1 e^{\b (k-\frac{\g_0}{2}+\e)} +c_2 e^{\b (k_1+\e)}$ (notice that $\hat t0$ such that $$\P (\text{diam} (R^0_{ext}(\hat t)) \magg c_3 e^{\b (k-\frac{\g_0}{2})})\to 1 $$ and $$ \P \left(\text{\rm diam} (R^0_{ext}( t)) - \text{\rm diam} (R^0_{ext}(\hat t)) \minug c_4 e^{\b(k-\frac{\g_0}{2}-r)}\right) \to 1 $$ Using Lemma 2, we can show that $\forall \;\e>0$, looking at the process at time $t'$, we have $$\P (\forall \;x \in R^0_{ext}(\hat t) : \s_{t'}(x) \not= -1) \to 1$$ We now tile $R^0_{ext}(\hat t)$ with squares of side $e^{\b (k_1-\frac{\g_1}{2})}$. These tiles are less than $ e^{2\b k}$. Using the same argument as in the proof of Proposition 1, we can show that $ \exists c_5,c_6>0$ such that $\forall \;\e>0$, looking at the process at time $t''$, we have: $$ \P \left( \exists \;x \in R^0_{ext}(\hat t) : \s_{t''}(x) \not= 1 \right) \minug c_5 e^{2 \b k} e^{-c_6 e^{\b \e} } \to 0 $$ By choosing $\e=\frac{\hat{r}-r}{2}$ such that $t'' < t$, Theorem 4 is then proven. \QED \bigskip {\it \bf Proof of theorem 5} \bigskip Let us consider the system at time $\t':=(\t_0 - e^{\b (k^+ +\frac{\e}{2})})\vee 0$. Recalling that $\check L = e^{\b(k +\e)}$ let $$\Xi:=\{x \in Q_{{\check L}} :\s_{\t'}(x) \not= -1\}$$ With high probability as $\b \to \infty$ we have: since the speed of growth of a droplet of $0$ is at most one, the droplet that reaches the origin is not coming from outside $Q_{{\check L}} $ and since $\G_0 \magg \G_1 + \g_0$, it is not originated inside $Q_{{\check L}} $ after $\t'$, so that $\P\{\Xi \not= \emptyset \} \to 1$. On the other hand, by using the same argument as the one used in the proof of Theorem 3, we can show that if $x \in \Xi$ at time $\t'$, then $$\P \left( \s_{\t'+e^{\b(k^+ +\frac{\e}{3})}}(x) =1 \right) \to 1 $$ that concludes the proof. \QED \bigskip {\bf Remark.} We can also prove that calling $\hat \Xi := \bigcup_{x \in \Xi} Q_{L^+}(x) ,$ because of ferromagnetic inequality \equ(fkg1) $$ \P \left( \exists x \in \hat \Xi : \s_{\t'+e^{\b(k^+ +\frac{\e}{3})}}(x) \not= 1 \right) \minug $$ $$ \minug c_1 e^{2\b k^+} e^{-c_2 e^{\b \frac{\e}{2}} } \to 0 $$ We remark once more that this estimate works only if $\k^+ \minug \k_0-\frac{\g_0}{2}$, but this is the case in the neighbourhood of the triple point of Blume-Capel model. \vskip 1cm \expandafter\ifx\csname sezioniseparate\endcsname\relax% \input macro \fi \numsec=5 \numfor=1\numtheo=1\pgn=1 {\bf Section 5. Discussion.} \bigskip Let us make some further remarks on the hypotheses of Theorems 3 and 5. Blume-Capel parameters $\G^{BC}_0,\G^{BC}_1,\g^{BC}_0$ and $\g^{BC}_1$ either fulfil hypoteses of theorem 1 for $h>-\l>0$ or hypotheses of theorems 2, 3 ,4 for $h>\l>0$; hypoteses of theorem 5 are fulfilled in the interesting case $h>\l>0$, $h \to 0$. Indeed for Blume-Capel parameters $\G^{BC}_0>\G^{BC}_1$ iff $\g^{BC}_0>\g^{BC}_1$. Equation \equ(k0 2 \g_0$ of theorem 3 (see \equ(param1)) is only needed to have a strict inequality $C'>0$ since otherwise the droplet of zeroes that reaches the origin does not achieve its asymptotic speed of growth. %(ricostruire particolari) %We can ask ourselves on what happens if the second condition %in \equ(param1) %is violated and whether or not it is possible that %$\t_{0+}$ is not far less than $\t_0$ though $\t_1 \sim \t_0$. The physical meaning of the condition $\G_0>\G_1$ in \equ(param1) is that a single droplet of zeroes becomes large enough to allow nucleation of the pluses in its interior before $\t_0$. Indeed the volume of the space-time droplet of zeroes at time $\t_0$ is by definition (see \equ(1.1) and \equ(k0) ) the inverse of the nucleation rate of the zeroes so that the probability of nucleation of pluses inside the droplet of zeroes is bounded by $e^{-\b[\G_1-\G_0]} \wedge 1$. In the other case $\G_0<\G_1$, even if the speed of growth of the pluses is very large, there is no way for a plus droplet to reach the origin by a further time $\t_{0+}$ typically smaller than $e^{\b k_0}$, unless a large scale coalescence of the zeroes occurs connecting with the origin a nucleus of pluses that is very far from it. The only way for a plus to be originated in the cluster of zeroes containing the origin at time $\t_0+e^{\b k^+}$ is that this cluster becomes large enough from the coalescence of many droplets of typical size $e^{\b (k_0 +\frac{\g_0}{2})}$. Our difficulties in taking into account the coalescence of the droplets of zeroes at time $\t_0$ arise from the fact that we are exactly at the percolation threshold in the sense of [AL] and we cannot use the methods of Aizenman and Lebowitz as it was done in [DSch1]. Indeed even if we know from Theorem DS that for $kk_0$, coalescence happens on super-exponential scale, we cannot say anything about the case $k=k_0$. >From heuristic analysis we can argue that the probability that the cluster of zeroes including the origin has a large enough volume to allow the nucleation of the pluses is separated from zero and one and hence the second of \equ(param1) is necessary for Theorem 3. A similar problem we have in order to prove Theorem 5, where to give the right distance from the origin of the pluses we would like to rule out the possibility that the origin becomes occupied because of a large-scale bootstrap percolation phenomenon (see [AL] and [DSch1]). \bigskip Finally we remark that the estimate on $\t_{0+}$ given by Theorem 3 is far from being optimal. In order to give the right asymptotics for $\t_{0+}$, it is necessary to study the interface between zeroes and minuses from a ``mesoscopic" point of view. Indeed to deal with the pursuit of the pluses it is crucial to have this interface regular on scale $e^{\b k_1}$ in order for the droplet of pluses inside the droplet of zeroes to have enough room to reach its asymptoptic speed of growth. We can argue, on heuristic grounds, that this interface is regular on scale $e^{\b \gmezzi}$. 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