Momentum operators on graphs

Abstract

We discuss ways in which momentum operators can be introduced on an oriented metric graph. A necessary condition appears to the balanced property, or a matching between the numbers of incoming and outgoing edges; we show that a graph without an orientation, locally finite and at most countably infinite, can made balanced oriented \emph{iff} the degree of each vertex is even. On such graphs we construct families of momentum operators; we analyze their spectra and associated unitary groups. We also show that the unique continuation principle does not hold here.

AMSTeX, 14 pages, minor improvements, to appear in Fritz Gesztesy Festschrift