Use integer graph vertices in the boxes: , and set . Thus , , and for .
If , erase loops from an open graph path to obtain a self-avoiding walk. Let be its first graph vertex on . Split at . The prefix certifies , while a segment of the suffix certifies : the final graph vertex is at supremum norm distance at least from , so the suffix first hits that translated boundary. The two certificates use disjoint edges. Therefore the BK boundary-splitting estimate, the union bound, the van den Berg-Kesten inequality, and translation invariance give
The cases or follow directly from , so this proves the bound including the endpoints.
Here is an explicit way to remove the polynomial boundary factor. For put , . By symmetry in , assume . Then
Consequently is a subadditive sequence. The Fekete lemma states that any real subadditive sequence satisfies , possibly . In this case the direct horizontal open graph path gives , so this limit of a sequence is bounded below by . Since , its upper bound is zero. Finally,
has the same limit of a sequence. Thus the percolation one-arm decay rate exists and
For , every with is zero and . No exponential-decay theorem or assumption that is below the percolation critical probability is needed.
For bond percolation on the square lattice, the one-arm probability has a root limit of a sequence . The BK boundary-splitting estimate implies that is submultiplicative for positive integers. Applying the Fekete lemma to its logarithm proves existence when ; at the rate is zero. The same rate is the root limit of the percolation two-point connection probability along a coordinate axis, by the reflection lower bound for two-point percolation.