We study the directed last-passage percolation model on the planar integer lattice with nearest-neighbor steps and general i.i.d. weights on the vertices, outside the class of exactly solvable models. Stationary cocycles are constructed for this perc
olation model from queueing fixed points. These cocycles serve as boundary conditions for stationary last-passage percolation, define solutions to variational formulas that characterize limit shapes, and yield new results for Busemann functions, geodesics and the competition interface.
We discuss variational formulas for the limits of certain models of motion in a random medium: namely, the limiting time constant for last-passage percolation and the limiting free energy for directed polymers. The results are valid for models in arb
itrary dimension, steps of the admissible paths can be general, the environment process is ergodic under shifts, and the potential accumulated along a path can depend on the environment and the next step of the path. The variational formulas come in two types: one minimizes over gradient-like cocycles, and another one maximizes over invariant measures on the space of environments and paths. Minimizing cocycles can be obtained from Busemann functions when these can be proved to exist. The results are illustrated through 1+1 dimensional exactly solvable examples, periodic examples, and polymers in weak disorder.
