Ram Band

The isospectral fruits of representation theory: quantum graphs and drums

We present a method which enables one to construct isospectral objects, such as quantum graphs and drums. One aspect of the method is based on representation theory arguments which are shown and proved. The complementary part concerns techniques of assembly which are both stated generally and demonstrated. For this purpose, quantum graphs are grist to the mill. We develop the intuition that stands behind the construction as well as the practical skills of producing isospectral objects. We discuss the theoretical implications which include Sunadas theorem of isospectrality (Sunada 1985 Ann. Math. 121 169) arising as a particular case of this method. A gallery of new isospectral examples is presented, and some known examples are shown to result from our theory.

Nodal domains on isospectral quantum graphs: the resolution of isospectrality

We present and discuss isospectral quantum graphs which are not isometric. These graphs are the analogues of the isospectral domains in which were introduced recently in Gordon et al (1992 Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 27 134–8), Chapman (1995 Am. Math. Mon. 102 124), Buser et al (1994 Int. Math. Res. Not. 9 391–400), Okada and Shudo (2001 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 34 5911–22), Jakobson et al (2006 J. Comput. Appl. Math. 194 141–55) and Levitin et al (2006 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 39 2073–82)) all based on Sunadas construction of isospectral domains (Sunada T 1985 Ann. Math. 121 196–86). After presenting some of the properties of these graphs, we discuss a few examples which support the conjecture that by counting the nodal domains of the corresponding eigenfunctions one can resolve the isospectral ambiguity.

Linear Representations and Isospectrality with Boundary Conditions

We present a method for constructing families of isospectral systems, using linear representations of finite groups. We focus on quantum graphs, for which we give a complete treatment. However, the method presented can be applied to other systems such as manifolds and two-dimensional drums. This is demonstrated by reproducing some known isospectral drums, and new examples are obtained as well. In particular, Sunada’s method (Ann. Math. 121, 169–186, 1985) is a special case of the one presented.

The nodal count {0,1,2,3,...} implies the graph is a tree.

Sturms oscillation theorem states that the nth eigenfunction of a Sturm–Liouville operator on the interval has n−1 zeros (nodes) (Sturm 1836 J. Math. Pures Appl. 1, 106–186; 373–444). This result was generalized for all metric tree graphs (Pokornyĭ et al. 1996 Mat. Zametki 60, 468–470 (doi:10.1007/BF02320380); Schapotschnikow 2006 Waves Random Complex Media 16, 167–178 (doi:10.1080/1745530600702535)) and an analogous theorem was proved for discrete tree graphs (Berkolaiko 2007 Commun. Math. Phys. 278, 803–819 (doi:10.1007/S00220-007-0391-3); Dhar & Ramaswamy 1985 Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 1346–1349 (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.54.1346); Fiedler 1975 Czechoslovak Math. J. 25, 607–618). We prove the converse theorems for both discrete and metric graphs. Namely if for all n, the nth eigenfunction of the graph has n−1 zeros, then the graph is a tree. Our proofs use a recently obtained connection between the graphs nodal count and the magnetic stability of its eigenvalues (Berkolaiko 2013 Anal. PDE 6, 1213–1233 (doi:10.2140/apde.2013.6.1213); Berkolaiko & Weyand 2014 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 372, 20120522 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2012.0522); Colin de Verdière 2013 Anal. PDE 6, 1235–1242 (doi:10.2140/apde.2013.6.1235)). In the course of the proof, we show that it is not possible for all (or even almost all, in the metric case) the eigenvalues to exhibit a diamagnetic behaviour. In addition, we develop a notion of ‘discretized’ versions of a metric graph and prove that their nodal counts are related to those of the metric graph.

Scattering from isospectral quantum graphs

Quantum graphs can be extended to scattering systems when they are connected by leads to infinity. It is shown that for certain extensions, the scattering matrices of isospectral graphs are conjugate to each other and their poles distributions are therefore identical. The scattering matrices are studied using a recently developed isospectral theory (Band et al 2009 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 42 175202 and Parzanchevski and Band 2010 J. Geom. Anal. 20 439–71). At the same time, the scattering approach offers a new insight on the mentioned isospectral construction.

Dynamics of Nodal Points and the Nodal Count on a Family of Quantum Graphs

We investigate the properties of the zeros of the eigenfunctions on quantum graphs (metric graphs with a Schrödinger-type differential operator). Using tools such as scattering approach and eigenvalue interlacing inequalities we derive several formulas relating the number of the zeros of the n-th eigenfunction to the spectrum of the graph and of some of its subgraphs. In a special case of the so-called dihedral graph we prove an explicit formula that only uses the lengths of the edges, entirely bypassing the information about the graph’s eigenvalues. The results are explained from the point of view of the dynamics of zeros of the solutions to the scattering problem.

Finite pseudo orbit expansions for spectral quantities of quantum graphs

We investigate spectral quantities of quantum graphs by expanding them as sums over pseudo orbits, sets of periodic orbits. Only a finite collection of pseudo orbits which are irreducible and where the total number of bonds is less than or equal to the number of bonds of the graph appear, analogous to a cut off at half the Heisenberg time. The calculation simplifies previous approaches to pseudo orbit expansions on graphs. We formulate coefficients of the characteristic polynomial and derive a secular equation in terms of the irreducible pseudo orbits. From the secular equation, whose roots provide the graph spectrum, the zeta function is derived using the argument principle. The spectral zeta function enables quantities, such as the spectral determinant and vacuum energy, to be obtained directly as finite expansions over the set of short irreducible pseudo orbits.

Isospectral graphs with identical nodal counts

According to a recent conjecture, isospectral objects have different nodal count sequences (Gnutzmann et al 2005 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 38 8921–33). We study generalized Laplacians on discrete graphs, and use them to construct the first non-trivial counterexamples to this conjecture. In addition, these examples demonstrate a surprising connection between isospectral discrete and quantum graphs.

Universality of the momentum band density of periodic networks.

The momentum spectrum of a periodic network (quantum graph) has a band-gap structure. We investigate the relative density of the bands or, equivalently, the probability that a randomly chosen momentum belongs to the spectrum of the periodic network. We show that this probability exhibits universal properties. More precisely, the probability to be in the spectrum does not depend on the edge lengths (as long as they are generic) and is also invariant within some classes of graph topologies.

Nodal domains of a non-separable problem—the right-angled isosceles triangle

We study the nodal set of eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator on the right-angled isosceles triangle. A local analysis of the nodal pattern provides an algorithm for computing the number νn of nodal domains for any eigenfunction. In addition, an exact recursive formula for the number of nodal domains is found to reproduce all existing data. Eventually, we use the recursion formula to analyse a large sequence of nodal counts statistically. Our analysis shows that the distribution of nodal counts for this triangular shape has a much richer structure than the known cases of regular separable shapes or completely irregular shapes. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the nodal count sequence contains information about the periodic orbits of the corresponding classical ray dynamics.