Laplace operators on quantum graphs

Abstract

We introduce a class of Laplace operators associated with quantum graphs in the operator-system framework. To this end, we investigate structural properties of quantum graphs related to the Schur product and transposition. Our main innovation is the identification of a specific inner product on the space of matrices with respect to which the projection onto the operator system underlying a quantum graph is orthogonal. This enables us to define a quantum analogue of the classical incidence operator and the associated Laplace operator. We compare this construction with a recently proposed alternative definition and examine the resulting Laplace operators for several families of quantum graphs. These results extend fundamental constructions from spectral graph theory to the operator-algebraic setting, providing a step toward a spectral theory of quantum graphs that generalizes classical graph-theoretic concepts while revealing new connections with quantum information theory and noncommutative geometry.