We define the connectivity indexc for an infinite graph by the requirement that to disconnect a subset of at leastV points from the rest of the graph requires the deletion of a minimum ofS(V) bonds whereS(V) ∼V^(c−1)/c for largeV. For ad-dimensional hypercubical lattice withd integral,c=d. We construct explicit examples of lattices with nonintegral connectivity indexc, 1<c<∞. It is argued that the connectivity index is an important parameter determining the critical behaviour of Hamiltonians on these lattices.

This article reviews some effects of disorder in percolation systems away from the critical density p_c. For densities below p_c, the statistics of large clusters defines the animals problem. Its relation to the directed animals problem and the Lee-Yang edge singularity problem is described. Rare compact clusters give rise to Griffiths singularities in the free energy of diluted ferromagnets, and lead to a very slow relaxation of magnetization. In biased diffusion on percolation clusters, trapping in dead-end branches leads to asymptotic drift velocity becoming zero for strong bias, and very slow relaxation of velocity near the critical bias field.

We study continuum percolation of overlapping circular discs of two sizes. We propose a phenomenological scaling equation for the increase in the effective size of the larger discs due to the presence of the smaller discs. The critical percolation threshold as a function of the ratio of sizes of discs, for different values of the relative areal densities of two discs, can be described in terms of a scaling function of only one variable. The recent accurate Monte Carlo estimates of critical threshold by Quintanilla and Ziff [Phys. Rev. E76, 051115 (2007)] are in very good agreement with the proposed scaling relation.