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Delio Mugnolo

Publications and source records attributed to Delio Mugnolo.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Distinguishing co-spectral quantum graphs by scattering

We propose a simple method for resolution of co-spectrality of Schrödinger operators on metric graphs. Our approach consists of attaching a lead to them and comparing the $S$-functions of the corresponding scattering problems on these (non-compact) graphs. We show that in several cases -- including general graphs on at most 6 vertices, general trees on at most 9 vertices, and general fuzzy balls -- eigenvalues and scattering data are together sufficient to distinguish co-spectral metric graphs.

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On torsional rigidity and ground-state energy of compact quantum graphs

We develop the theory of torsional rigidity -- a quantity routinely considered for Dirichlet Laplacians on bounded planar domains -- for Laplacians on metric graphs with at least one Dirichlet vertex. Using a variational characterization that goes back to Pólya, we develop surgical principles that, in turn, allow us to prove isoperimetric-type inequalities: we can hence compare the torsional rigidity of general metric graphs with that of intervals of the same total length. In the spirit of the Kohler-Jobin Inequality, we also derive sharp bounds on the ground-state energy of a quantum graph in terms of its torsional rigidity: this is particularly attractive since computing the torsional rigidity reduces to inverting a matrix whose size is the number of the graph's vertices and is, thus, much easier than computing eigenvalues.

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The wave equation with acoustic boundary conditions on non-locally reacting surfaces

The aim of the paper is to study the problem $u_{tt}-c^2Δu=0$ in $\mathbb{R}\timesΩ$, $μv_{tt}- \text{div}_Γ(σ\nabla_Γv)+δv_t+κv+ρu_t =0$ on $\mathbb{R}\times Γ_1$, $v_t =\partial_νu$ on $\mathbb{R}\times Γ_1$,$\partial_νu=0$ on $\mathbb{R}\times Γ_0$, $u(0,x)=u_0(x)$ and $u_t(0,x)=u_1(x)$ in $Ω$, $v(0,x)=v_0(x)$ and $v_t(0,x)=v_1(x)$ on $Γ_1$, where $Ω$ is a open domain of $\mathbb{R}^N$ with uniformly $C^r$ boundary ($N\ge 2$, $r\ge 1$), $Γ=\partialΩ$, $(Γ_0,Γ_1)$ is a relatively open partition of $Γ$ with $Γ_0$ (but not $Γ_1$) possibly empty. Here $\text{div}_Γ$ and $\nabla_Γ$ denote the Riemannian divergence and gradient operators on $Γ$, $ν$ is the outward normal to $Ω$, the coefficients $μ,σ,δ, κ, ρ$ are suitably regular functions on $Γ_1$ with $ρ,σ$ and $μ$ uniformly positive while $c$ is a positive constant. This problem have been proposed long time ago by Beale and Rosencrans, when $N=3$, $σ=0$, $r=\infty$, $ρ$ is constant, $κ,δ\ge 0$, to model acoustic wave propagation with locally reacting boundary. In this paper we first study well-posedness in the natural energy space and give regularity results. Hence we give precise qualitative results for solutions when $Ω$ is bounded and $r=2$, $ρ$ is constant, $κ,δ\ge 0$. These results motivate a detailed discussion of the derivation of the problem in Theoretical Acoustics and the consequent proposal of adding to the model the integral condition $\int_Ωu_t=c^2\int_{Γ_1}v$.

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Gradient flow formulation of diffusion equations in the Wasserstein space over a metric graph

This paper contains two contributions in the study of optimal transport on metric graphs. Firstly, we prove a Benamou-Brenier formula for the Wasserstein distance, which establishes the equivalence of static and dynamical optimal transport. Secondly, in the spirit of Jordan-Kinderlehrer-Otto, we show that McKean-Vlasov equations can be formulated as gradient flow of the free energy in the Wasserstein space of probability measures. The proofs of these results are based on careful regularisation arguments to circumvent some of the difficulties arising in metric graphs, namely, branching of geodesics and the failure of semi-convexity of entropy functionals in the Wasserstein space.

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Self-adjoint and Markovian extensions of infinite quantum graphs

We investigate the relationship between one of the classical notions of boundaries for infinite graphs, \emph{graph ends}, and self-adjoint extensions of the minimal Kirchhoff Laplacian on a metric graph. We introduce the notion of \emph{finite volume} for ends of a metric graph and show that finite volume graph ends is the proper notion of a boundary for Markovian extensions of the Kirchhoff Laplacian. In contrast to manifolds and weighted graphs, this provides a transparent geometric characterization of the uniqueness of Markovian extensions, as well as of the self-adjointness of the Gaffney Laplacian -- the underlying metric graph does not have finite volume ends. If however finitely many finite volume ends occur (as is the case of edge graphs of normal, locally finite tessellations or Cayley graphs of amenable finitely generated groups), we provide a complete description of Markovian extensions upon introducing a suitable notion of traces of functions and normal derivatives on the set of graph ends.

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Hubs-biased resistance distances on graphs and networks

We define and study two new kinds of "effective resistances" based on hubs-biased -- hubs-repelling and hubs-attracting -- models of navigating a graph/network. We prove that these effective resistances are squared Euclidean distances between the vertices of a graph. They can be expressed in terms of the Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse of the hubs-biased Laplacian matrices of the graph. We define the analogous of the Kirchhoff indices of the graph based of these resistance distances. We prove several results for the new resistance distances and the Kirchhoff indices based on spectral properties of the corresponding Laplacians. After an intensive computational search we conjecture that the Kirchhoff index based on the hubs-repelling resistance distance is not smaller than that based on the standard resistance distance, and that the last is not smaller than the one based on the hubs-attracting resistance distance. We also observe that in real-world brain and neural systems the efficiency of standard random walk processes is as high as that of hubs-attracting schemes. On the contrary, infrastructures and modular software networks seem to be designed to be navigated by using their hubs.

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Ornstein--Uhlenbeck Semigroups on Star Graphs

We prove first existence of a classical solution to a class of parabolic problems with unbounded coefficients on metric star graphs subject to Kirchhoff-type conditions. The result is applied to the Ornstein--Uhlenbeck and the harmonic oscillator operators on metric star graphs. We give an explicit formula for the associated Ornstein--Uhlenbeck semigroup and give the unique associated invariant measure. We show that this semigroup inherits the regularity properties of the classical Ornstein--Uhlenbeck semigroup on $\mathbb R$.

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Asymptotics and estimates for spectral minimal partitions of metric graphs

We study properties of spectral minimal partitions of metric graphs within the framework recently introduced in [Kennedy et al, Calc. Var. 60 (2021), 61]. We provide sharp lower and upper estimates for minimal partition energies in different classes of partitions; while the lower bounds are reminiscent of the classic isoperimetric inequalities for metric graphs, the upper bounds are more involved and mirror the combinatorial structure of the metric graph as well. Combining them, we deduce that these spectral minimal energies also satisfy a Weyl-type asymptotic law similar to the well-known one for eigenvalues of quantum graph Laplacians with various vertex conditions. Drawing on two examples we show that in general no second term in the asymptotic expansion for minimal partition energies can exist, but show that various kinds of behaviour are possible. We also study certain aspects of the asymptotic behaviour of the minimal partitions themselves.

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If time were a graph, what would evolution equations look like?

Linear evolution equations are considered usually for the time variable being defined on an interval where typically initial conditions or time-periodicity of solutions are required to single out certain solutions. Here we would like to make a point of allowing time to be defined on a metric graph or network where on the branching points coupling conditions are imposed such that time can have ramifications and even loops. This not only generalizes the classical setting and allows for more freedom in the modeling of coupled and interacting systems of evolution equations, but it also provides a unified framework for initial value and time-periodic problems. For these time-graph Cauchy problems questions of well-posedness and regularity of solutions for parabolic problems are studied along with the question of which time-graph Cauchy problems cannot be reduced to an iteratively solvable sequence of Cauchy problems on intervals. Based on two different approaches - an application of the Kalton-Weis theorem on the sum of closed operators and an explicit computation of a Green's function - we present the main well-posedness and regularity results. We further study some qualitative properties of solutions. While we mainly focus on parabolic problems we also explain how other Cauchy problems can be studied along the same lines. This is exemplified by discussing coupled systems with constraints that are non-local in time akin to periodicity.

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What is actually a metric graph?

Metric graphs are often introduced based on combinatorics, upon "associating" each edge of a graph with an interval; or else, casually "gluing" a collection of intervals at their endpoints in a network-like fashion. Here we propose an abstract, self-contained definition of metric graph. Being mostly topological, it doesn't require any knowledge from graph theory and already determines uniquely several concepts that are commonly and unnecessarily \textit{defined} in the literature. Nevertheless, many ideas mentioned here are folklore in the quantum graph community: we discuss them for later reference.

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Analytic solutions for stochastic hybrid models of gene regulatory networks

Discrete-state stochastic models are a popular approach to describe the inherent stochasticity of gene expression in single cells. The analysis of such models is hindered by the fact that the underlying discrete state space is extremely large. Therefore hybrid models, in which protein counts are replaced by average protein concentrations, have become a popular alternative. The evolution of the corresponding probability density functions is given by a coupled system of hyperbolic PDEs. This system has Markovian nature but its hyperbolic structure makes it difficult to apply standard functional analytical methods. We are able to prove convergence towards the stationary solution and determine such equilibrium explicitly by combining abstract methods from the theory of positive operators and elementary ideas from potential analysis.

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Eventual Domination for Linear Evolution Equations

We consider two $C_0$-semigroups on function spaces or, more generally, Banach lattices and give necessary and sufficient conditions for the orbits of the first semigroup to dominate the orbits of the second semigroup for large times. As an important special case we consider an $L^2$-space and self-adjoint operators $A$ and $B$ which generate $C_0$-semigroups; in this situation we give criteria for the existence of a time $t_1 \ge 0$ such that $e^{tB} \ge e^{tA}$ for all subsequent times $t\ge t_1$. As a consequence of our abstract theory, we obtain many surprising insights into the behaviour of various second and fourth order differential operators.

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Linear Hyperbolic Systems on Networks

We study hyperbolic systems of one-dimensional partial differential equations under general, possibly non-local boundary conditions. A large class of evolution equations, either on individual 1-dimensional intervals or on general networks, can be reformulated in our rather flexible formalism, which generalizes the classical technique of first-order reduction. We study forward and backward well-posedness; furthermore, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions on both the boundary conditions and the coefficients arising in the first-order reduction for a given subset of the relevant ambient space to be invariant under the flow that governs the system. Several examples are studied.

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On Pleijel's nodal domain theorem for quantum graphs

We establish metric graph counterparts of Pleijel's theorem on the asymptotics of the number of nodal domains $ν_n$ of the $n$-th eigenfunction(s) of a broad class of operators on compact metric graphs, including Schrödinger operators with $L^1$-potentials and a variety of vertex conditions as well as the $p$-Laplacian with natural vertex conditions, and without any assumptions on the lengths of the edges, the topology of the graph, or the behaviour of the eigenfunctions at the vertices. {Among other things, these results characterise the accumulation points of the sequence $(\frac{ν_n}{n})_{n\in\mathbb N}$, which are shown always to form a finite subset of $(0,1]$. This} extends the previously known result that $ν_n\sim n$ \textit{generically}, for certain realisations of the Laplacian, in several directions. In particular, in the special cases of the Laplacian with natural conditions, we show that for graphs with rationally dependent edge lengths, one can find eigenfunctions thereon for which ${ν_n}\not\sim {n}$; but in this case even the set of points of accumulation may depend on the choice of eigenbasis.

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Higher order operators on networks: hyperbolic and parabolic theory

We study higher-order elliptic operators on one-dimensional ramified structures (networks). We introduce a general variational framework for fourth-order operators that allows us to study features of both hyperbolic and parabolic equations driven by this class of operators. We observe that they extend to the higher-order case and discuss well-posedness and conservation of energy of beam equations, along with regularizing properties of polyharmonic heat kernels. A noteworthy finding is the discovery of a new class of well-posed evolution equations with Wentzell-type boundary conditions.

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Dynamic Transmission Conditions for Linear Hyperbolic Systems on Networks

We study evolution equations on networks that can be modeled by means of hyperbolic systems. We extend our previous findings in \cite{KraMugNic20} by discussing well-posedness under rather general transmission conditions that might be either of stationary or dynamic type - or a combination of both. Our results rely upon semigroup theory and elementary linear algebra. We also discuss qualitative properties of solutions.

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Lower Estimates on Eigenvalues of Quantum Graphs

A method for estimating the spectral gap along with higher eigenvalues of nonequilateral quantum graphs has been introduced by Amini and Cohen-Steiner recently: it is based on a new transference principle between discrete and continuous models of a graph. We elaborate on it by developing a more general transference principle and by proposing alternative ways of applying it. To illustrate our findings, we present several spectral estimates on planar metric graphs that are oftentimes sharper than those obtained by isoperimetric inequalities and further previously known methods.

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A theory of spectral partitions of metric graphs

We introduce an abstract framework for the study of clustering in metric graphs: after suitably metrising the space of graph partitions, we restrict Laplacians to the clusters thus arising and use their spectral gaps to define several notions of partition energies; this is the graph counterpart of the well-known theory of spectral minimal partitions on planar domains and includes the setting in [Band \textit{et al}, Comm.\ Math.\ Phys.\ \textbf{311} (2012), 815--838] as a special case. We focus on the existence of optimisers for a large class of functionals defined on such partitions, but also study their qualitative properties, including stability, regularity, and parameter dependence. We also discuss in detail their interplay with the theory of nodal partitions. Unlike in the case of domains, the one-dimensional setting of metric graphs allows for explicit computation and analytic -- rather than numerical -- results. Not only do we recover the main assertions in the theory of spectral minimal partitions on domains, as studied in [Conti \textit{et al}, Calc.\ Var.\ \textbf{22} (2005), 45--72; Helffer \textit{et al}, Ann.\ Inst.\ Henri Poincaré Anal.\ Non Linéaire \textbf{26} (2009), 101--138], but we can also generalise some of them and answer (the graph counterparts of) a few open questions.

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