On self-avoiding polygons and walks: the snake method via polygon joining

Abstract

For $d \geq 2$ and $n \in \mathbb{N}$, let $\mathsf{W}_n$ denote the uniform law on self-avoiding walks beginning at the origin in the integer lattice $\mathbb{Z}^d$, and write $\Gamma$ for a $\mathsf{W}_n$-distributed walk. We show that the closing probability $\mathsf{W}_n \big( \vert \vert \Gamma_n \vert \vert = 1 \big)$ that $\Gamma$'s endpoint neighbours the origin is at most $n^{-4/7 + o(1)}$ for a positive density set of odd $n$ in dimension $d = 2$. This result is proved using the snake method, a technique for proving closing probability upper bounds, which originated in [3] and was made explicit in [8]. Our conclusion is reached by applying the snake method in unison with a polygon joining technique whose use was initiated by Madras in [13].