A Notion of Dimension based on Probability on Groups

We introduce notions of dimension of an infinite group, or more generally, a metric space, defined using percolation. Roughly speaking, the percolation dimension $pdim(G)$ of a group $G$ is the fastest rate of decay of a symmetric probability measure $\mu$ on $G$, such that Bernoulli percolation on $G$ with connection probabilities proportional to $\mu$ behaves like a Poisson branching process with parameter 1 in a sense made precise below. We show that $pdim(G)$ has several natural properties: it is monotone decreasing with respect to subgroups and quotients, and coincides with the growth rate exponent for several classes of groups.