Discrete harmonic function ($Lh=0$)

A real function $h$ on the vertices of a graph of an unweighted locally finite graph is a discrete harmonic function at $u$ when $\mathrm{deg}(u)h(u)={\sum }_{v\sim u}h(v)$, equivalently $Lh(u)=0$ for the Graph Laplacian. For positive degree this says its value is the average over its graph neighbours; at an isolated vertex of a graph the Laplacian condition is vacuous. On an electrical network the corresponding equation uses conductance weights and the Weighted graph Laplacian. Voltages away from sources and sinks, and hitting probabilities away from their prescribed boundaries, are discrete harmonic functions.

Every bounded harmonic function on a graph is constant if the connected locally finite graph is recurrent. Along its random walk on a graph, the harmonic values form a bounded martingale and converge almost surely. Recurrence visits each vertex infinitely often, making every vertex value a subsequential limit of the same convergent sequence. Thus every value agrees.

A real function $h$ on a finite connected graph satisfying $Lh=0$ everywhere is constant. At a maximum graph vertex, the identity $\mathrm{deg}(u)h(u)={\sum }_{v\sim u}h(v)$ forces every graph neighbour to have the same maximum. Connectedness propagates it to every graph vertex. This proves uniqueness of voltage up to an additive constant, and identifies sums of oppositely directed occupation voltages.

Every bounded discrete harmonic function on ${\mathbb{Z}}^d$ is constant. After rescaling its range to $[0,1]$, place it in the compact convex set of all such functions; translation invariance and the mean-value identity force every extreme point to be constant, and the Krein-Milman theorem finishes the proof.