We prove that if $H$ denotes the operator corresponding to the canonical Dirichlet form on a possibly locally infinite weighted graph $(X,b,m)$, and if $v:X\to \mathbb{ R}$ is such that $H+v/\hbar$ is well-defined as a form sum for all $\hbar >0$, then the quantum partition function $\mathrm{ tr}(\mathrm{ e}^{ -\beta \hbar ( H + v/\hbar)})$ satisfies $$ \mathrm{ tr}(\mathrm{ e}^{ -\beta \hbar ( H + v/\hbar)})\xrightarrow[]{ \hbar\to 0+}\sum_{ x\in X} \mathrm{ e}^{ -\beta v(x)} \text{ for all $\beta>0$}, $$ regardless of the fact whether $\mathrm{ e}^{ -\beta v}$ is apriori summable or not. We also prove natural generalizations of this semiclassical limit to a large class of covariant Schr\"odinger operators that act on sections in Hermitian vector bundle over $(X,m,b)$, a result that particularly applies to magnetic Schr\"odinger operators that are defined on $(X,m,b)$.

Categories: math-ph math.FA math.MP math.PR

Semiclassical limits of quantum partition functions on infinite graphs