Critical percolation on slabs with random columnar disorder

We explore a bond percolation model on slabs $\mathbb{S}^+_k=\mathbb{Z}_+\times \mathbb{Z}_+\times\{0,\dots,k\}$ featuring one-dimensional inhomogeneities. In this context, a vertical column on the slab comprises the set of vertical edges projecting to the same vertex on $\mathbb{Z}_+\times\{0,\dots,k\}$. Columns are chosen based on the arrivals of a renewal process, where the tail distributions of inter-arrival times follow a power law with exponent $\phi>1$. Inhomogeneities are introduced as follows: vertical edges on selected columns are open (closed) with probability $q$ (respectively $1-q$), independently. Conversely, vertical edges within unselected columns and all horizontal edges are open (closed) with probability $p$ (respectively $1-p$). We prove that for all sufficiently large $\phi$ (depending solely on $k$), the following assertion holds: if $q>p_c(\mathbb{S}^+_k)$, then $p$ can be taken strictly smaller than $p_c(\mathbb{S}^+_k)$ in a manner that percolation still occurs.