Phase transition for the dilute clock model

We prove that phase transition occurs in the dilute ferromagnetic nearest-neighbour $q$-state clock model in $\mathbb{Z}^d$, for every $q\geq 2$ and $d\geq 2$. This follows from the fact that the Edwards-Sokal random-cluster representation of the clock model stochastically dominates a supercritical Bernoulli bond percolation probability, a technique that has been applied to show phase transition for the low-temperature Potts model. The domination involves a combinatorial lemma which is one of the main points of this article.