Greedy lattice animals: geometry and criticality (with an Appendix)

Assign to each site of the integer lattice $\Zd$ a real score, sampled according to the same distribution $F$, independently of the choices made at all other sites. A lattice animal is a finite connected set of sites, with its weight being the sum of the scores at its sites. Let $N_n$ be the maximal weight of those lattice animals of size $n$ that contain the origin. Denote by $N$ the almost sure finite constant limit of $n^{-1} N_n$, which exists under a mild condition on the positive tail of $F$. We study certain geometrical aspects of the lattice animal with maximal weight among those contained in an $n$-box where $n$ is large, both in the supercritical phase where $N > 0$, and in the critical case where $N = 0$.