Spectral properties and bound states of the Dirac equation on periodic quantum graphs

We investigate nonlinear Dirac equations on a periodic quantum graph $G$ and develop a variational approach to the existence and multiplicity of bound states. After introducing the Dirac operator on $G$ with a $\mathbb Z^{d}$-periodic potential, we describe its spectral decomposition and work in the natural energy space. Under asymptotically linear or superquadratic assumptions on the nonlinearity, we establish the required linking geometry and a Cerami-type compactness property modulo $\mathbb Z^{d}$-translations. As a consequence, we prove the existence of at least one bound state and, when the nonlinearity is even, infinitely many geometrically distinct bound states.