Evolving criticality in iterative bicolored percolation

Abstract: Criticality is traditionally regarded as an unstable, fine-tuned fixed point of the renormalization group. We introduce an iterative bicolored percolation process in two dimensions and show that it can both preserve and transform criticality. Starting from critical configurations, such as the O$(n)$ loop and fuzzy Potts models, successive coarse-graining generates a hierarchy of distinct yet critical generations. Using the conformal loop ensemble, we derive exact, generation-dependent fractal dimensions, which are quantitatively confirmed by large-scale Monte Carlo simulations. The evolutionary trajectory depends not only on the universality class of the initial state but also on whether it possesses a two-state critical structure, leading to different critical exponents starting from site and bond percolation. These results establish a general geometric mechanism for evolving criticality, in which scale invariance persists across generations.