On the overlap distribution of branching random walks

Abstract

In this paper, we study the overlap distribution and Gibbs measure of the Branching Random Walk with Gaussian increments on a binary tree. We first prove that the Branching Random Walk is 1 step Replica Symmetry Breaking and give a precise form for its overlap distribution, verifying a prediction of Derrida and Spohn. We then prove that the Gibbs measure of this system satisfies the Ghirlanda-Guerra identities. As a consequence, the limiting Gibbs measure has Poisson-Dirichlet statistics. The main technical result is a proof that the overlap distribution for the Branching Random Walk is supported on the set $\{0,1\}$.