Genericity of simple eigenvalues for a metric graph (Q1781936)

Let \(\Gamma\) be a connected finite graph; each edge \(e\) is considered to be a line segment of length \(\ell(e)\). The space \(H^2(\Gamma)\) is the space of continuous functions on \(\Gamma\) which belong to \(H^2\) on each edge. The Laplacian is given by \(-\partial_{x_\varepsilon}^2\) on each edge; the domain is the space \(H^2(\Gamma)\) with the Kirchhoff condition \[ \sum_{v<e}\{\partial_{x_e}\phi\}(v)=0 \] for every vertex \(v\) and where the sum is over the edges \(e\) starting from \(v\). If \(\Gamma\) is a polygon, the problem is equivalent to the spectral problem for the Laplacian on the circle of the same circumference and positive eigenvalues are always double. One can always remove vertices of degree 2 to form a simpler graph. The author shows that for all other graphs, the spectrum of the Laplacian is generically simple: Theorem. Let \(\Gamma\) be a connected metric graph which is different from a circle. Suppose it does not have vertices of degree \(2\). Let \(M\) be the set in the parameter space \(R_+^{| E| }\) for which all eigenvalues of \(\Gamma\) are simple. Then the set \(M\) is residual. \smallbreak\noindent The crucial technical lemma in the proof from which the theorem is derived is the following: Lemma. Suppose that the edge lengths \(\ell(e)\) are rationally independent. Then every multiple eigenvalue of \(\Gamma\) splits.