Explicit solutions for the wave equation on homogeneous trees (Q1342753)

Let \(T\) be a homogeneous tree of degree \(q + 1\), i.e. a connected graph without loops such that every vertex belongs to exactly \(q + 1\) edges. It is natural to define the distance \(d(v,w)\) on \(T\) as the number of edges between \(v\) and \(w\). It is also possible to introduce functions on \(T\). For example, the function \(f\) is called harmonic if its value at any vertex is the average of the values at its neighbors. The authors introduce the function \(f : T \times \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{C}\), \(f_k (v) = f(v,k)\), where \(v \in T\) is the space variable and \(k \in \mathbb{N}\) the time variable. The first derivative of \(f\) with respect to time at time \(k\) is defined as the first difference \(f_k' = f_{k + 1} - f_k\) in the time interval of length 1. Then, they take as the second derivative, the second symmetric difference \(\partial^2 f_k/ \partial t^2 = {1 \over 2} f_{k + 1} - f_k + {1 \over 2} f_{k - 1}\). In analogy with the classical equations of mathematical physics, the authors introduce the wave equation on \(T\), that is, (1) \(\mu_1 f_k - f_k = {1 \over 2} f_{k + 1} - f_k + {1 \over 2} f_{k - 1}\), with \(f_0\), \(f_1\) the given initial conditions. Here, \(\mu_1\) is the so-called nearest neighbor averaging operator, that is, the function \(\mu_1f\) assigns to the vertex \(v\) the average value of \(f\) at its neighbors. The main results of the paper are an elegant formula for the fundamental solution of the wave equation (1) and the formula for Radon transformation of the solution of the heat equation on homogeneous trees.