Stationary states of NLS on star graphs

We consider a generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLS) with a power nonlinearity vertical bar psi vertical bar(2 mu)psi of focusing type describing propagation on the ramified structure given by N edges connected at a vertex (a star graph). To model the interaction at the junction, it is there imposed a boundary condition analogous to the delta potential of strength alpha on the line, including as a special case (alpha = 0) the free propagation. We show that nonlinear stationary states describing solitons sitting at the vertex exist both for attractive (alpha < 0, representing a potential well) and repulsive (alpha > 0, a potential barrier) interaction. In the case of sufficiently strong attractive interaction at the vertex and power nonlinearity mu < 2, including the standard cubic case, we characterize the ground state as minimizer of a constrained action and we discuss its orbital stability. Finally we show that in the free case, for even N only, the stationary states can be used to construct traveling waves on the graph. Copyright (c) EPLA, 2012