Conservation laws and open systems on higher-dimensional networks

We discuss a framework for defining physical open systems on higher-dimensional complexes. We start with the formalization of the dynamics of open electrical circuits and the Kirchhoff behavior of the underlying open graph or 1-complex. It is discussed how the graph can be closed to an ordinary graph, and how this defines a Dirac structure on the extended graph. Then it is shown how this formalism can be extended to arbitrary k-complexes, which is illustrated by a discrete formulation of heat transfer on a two-dimensional spatial domain.