The existence of nonconstant harmonic functions on infinite vertex-symmetric graphs (Q1266365)

A graph \(\Gamma\) is said to be locally finite if the neighborhood \(\Gamma(x)\) of each vertex \(x\) of \(\Gamma\) is finite. A real-valued function \(\varphi\) defined on the vertices of a locally finite graph \(\Gamma\) is called harmonic if \[ |\Gamma(x)|\cdot \varphi(x)= \sum_{y\in\Gamma(x)}\varphi(y), \] for all vertices \(x\) of \(\Gamma\). The relevance of nonconstant harmonic functions on graphs lies in their connection to the theory of infinite networks, discrete potential theory and to the theory of random walks on graphs and groups. The authors prove the existence of nonconstant harmonic functions for all infinite locally finite vertex-symmetric graphs. The proof consists of two parts, the first part is devoted to the transient graphs and the second part to the recurrent graphs, with both parts containing ingenious use of some previously known results. As remarked in the paper, the result cannot be extended to the class of all regular locally finite graphs.