Recovering quantum graphs from their Bloch spectrum (Q381162)

The paper under review is concerned with a study of quantum graphs, i.e.\ finite, connected graphs in which each edge is given a certain length. To each 1-form \(\alpha\) on a quantum graph \(G\) (understood as a piecewise smooth 1-form defined on the union of all edge intervals and satisfying `Kirchhoff' boundary conditions at each vertex) one can associate a Schrödinger type operator \(\Delta_{\alpha}\) acting on the natural Sobolev space \(W_2(G)\). If \(\alpha=0\) one recovers in this way the usual Laplacian on \(G\). The spectrum of \(\Delta_{\alpha}\) depends only on the class of \(\alpha\) in \(X:=H^1_{\mathrm{dR}}(G, R) / H^1_{\mathrm{dR}}(G, Z)\), so it makes sense to define the Bloch spectrum \(\mathrm{Spec}_{\mathrm{Bl}}(G)\) as the map associating to each class in \(X\) the corresponding spectrum. The main theme of the paper is establishing to what extent the Bloch spectrum determines the graph \(G\) and its properties. It is shown in particular that \(\mathrm{Spec}_{\mathrm{Bl}}(G)\) determines planarity of \(G\), the block structure of \(G\) (if \(G\) is leafless) and that for 3-connected planar graphs it is a complete invariant. The crucial technical tool used by the author is the trace formula for \(\Delta_{\alpha}\) proved in [\textit{T. Kottos} and \textit{U. Smilansky}, Ann. Phys. 274, No. 1, 76--124 (1999; Zbl 1036.81014)].