On the discrete spectrum of the Dirac operator on bent chain quantum graph

Abstract

We study Dirac operators on an infinite quantum graph of a bent chain form which consists of identical rings connected at the touching points by δ-couplings with a parameter α ∈ ℝ. We are interested in the discrete spectrum of the corresponding Hamiltonian. It can be non-empty due to a local (geometrical perturbation of the corresponding infinite chain of rings. The quantum graph of analogous geometry with the Schrodinger operator on the edges was considered by Duclos, Exner and Turek in 2008. They showed that the absence of δ-couplings at vertices (i.e. the Kirchhoff condition at the vertices) lead to the absence of eigenvalues. We consider the relativistic particle (the Dirac operator instead of the Schrodinger one) but the result is analogous. Quantum graphs of such type are suitable for description of grapheme-based nanostructures. It is established that the negativity of α is the necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of eigenvalues of the Dirac operator (i.e. the discrete spectrum of the Hamiltonian in this case is not empty). The continuous spectrum of the Hamiltonian for bent chain graph coincides with that for the corresponding straight infinite chain. Conditions for appearance of more than one eigenvalue are obtained. It is related to the bending angle. The investigation is based on the transfer-matrix approach. It allows one to reduce the problem to an algebraic task. δ-couplings was introduced by the operator extensions theory method.