Standing waves for the NLS on the double-bridge graph and a rational–irrational dichotomy

We study standing waves of NLS equation posed on the double-bridge graph: two semi-infinite half-lines attached at a circle. At the two vertices Kirchhoff boundary conditions are imposed. The configuration of the graph is characterized by two lengths, $L_1$ and $L_2$. We study the solutions with possibly nontrivial components on the half-lines and a cnoidal component on the circle. The problem is equivalent to a nonlinear boundary value problem in which the boundary condition depends on the spectral parameter ω. After classifying the solutions with rational $L_1/L_2$, we turn to $L_1/L_2$ irrational showing that there exist standing waves only in correspondence to a countable set of negative frequencies ${\omega }_n$. Moreover we show that the frequency sequence admits cluster points and any negative real number can be a limit point of frequencies choosing a suitable irrational geometry $L_1/L_2$. These results depend on basic properties of diophantine approximation of real numbers.