A solution to an Ambarzumyan problem on trees (Q447787)

This paper concerns the Sturm-Liouville problem on a compact metric tree, with Neumann boundary conditions. The following inverse spectral result is proved: if the eigenvalues of the problem coincide with the eigenvalues in the case of a zero potential, then the potential must in fact be zero. In the case that the graph is a single interval, this result is a classical one due to Ambarzumyan, and the main theorem of the paper generalizes several previous results in the same direction that have been proved for particular classes of compact metric graphs. The proof involves approximation of the eigenvalues for zero potential by rational numbers, recursive formulas for the characteristic function whose zeros are the eigenvalues, and asymptotic formulas for these characteristic functions.