Critical exponents for square lattice trails with a fixed number of vertices of degree 4

We prove several previously conjectured results about the number of n-edge trails and n-edge embeddings of Eulerian graphs, each with a fixed number, k, of degree 4 vertices, in the lattice ². In particular, under the assumption that the relevant critical exponents exist, we prove that the difference between the critical exponent for closed trails (Eulerian graph embeddings) and that for self-avoiding circuits (polygons) is exactly k, the number of degree 4 vertices. Similarly, we prove that the difference between the critical exponent for either open trails or open Eulerian graph embeddings and that for self-avoiding walks is also k. These results are proved by establishing upper and lower bounds for the number of n-edge embeddings of closed (open) Eulerian graphs with k vertices of degree 4 in terms of the number of n-edge self-avoiding polygons (walks). The lower bounds are proved using a Kesten pattern theorem argument and the upper bounds are established by developing (based on a detailed case analysis) a method for removing vertices of degree 4 from an embedding by altering at most a constant (independent of n) number of vertices and edges of the embedding. The work presented here extends and improves the arguments first given in the work of Zhao and Lookman (1993 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 26 1067–76).