Networks of sign-changing metamaterials: existence and spectral properties

Abstract

We study composite assemblages of dielectrics and metamaterials with respectively positive and negative material parameters. In the continuum case, for a scalar equation, such media may exhibit so-called plasmonic resonances for certain values of the (negative) conductivity in the metamaterial. This work investigates such resonances, and the associated eigenfunctions, in the case of composite conducting networks. Unlike the continuous media, we show a surprising specific dependence on the geometry of the network of the resonant values. We also study how the problem is affected by the choice of boundary conditions on the external nodes of the structure.