The multinomial dimer model
The multinomial dimer model
An N dimer cover of a graph is a collection of edges such that every vertex is contained in exactly N edges of the collection. The multinomial dimer model, introduced by Kenyon and Pohoata, studies a natural but non-uniform measure on N dimer covers. While the standard dimer model (N=1) is exactly solvable only in two dimensions (i.e. on planar graphs), in the N to infinity limit, the multinomial dimer model turns out to be exactly solvable even in three (or higher) dimensions. In this talk, I will define the model and discuss new results in two and three dimensions, including: explicit formulas for the free energy, a large deviation principle, Euler-Lagrange equations, and descriptions of limit shapes and some of their properties. This is joint work with Richard Kenyon.