Isospectral drums and simple groups

TL;DR

This paper classifies isospectral but nonisometric manifolds, especially planar domains, using group theory and introduces properties that characterize these manifolds, revealing a surprising link to finite simple groups.

Contribution

It provides a classification of length equivalent manifolds satisfying certain properties, connecting their structure to finite simple groups and extending the Gassman-Sunada method.

Findings

Classifies length equivalent manifolds with properties FF, MAX, PAIR, INV.

Shows these manifolds arise from the Gassman-Sunada method.

Establishes a deep connection between these manifolds and finite simple groups.

Abstract

Virtually every known pair of isospectral but nonisometric manifolds - with as most famous members isospectral bounded $\mathbb{R}$-planar domains which makes one "not hear the shape of a drum" [13] - arise from the (group theoretical) Gassman-Sunada method. Moreover, all the known $\mathbb{R}$-planar examples (so counter examples to Kac's question) are constructed through a famous specialization of this method, called transplantation. We first describe a number of very general classes of length equivalent manifolds, with as particular cases isospectral manifolds, in each of the constructions starting from a given example that arises itself from the Gassman-Sunada method. The constructions include the examples arising from the transplantation technique (and thus in particular the planar examples). To that end, we introduce four properties - called FF, MAX, PAIR and INV - inspired by natural physical properties (which rule out trivial constructions), that are satisfied for each of the known planar examples. Vice versa, we show that length equivalent manifolds with FF, MAX, PAIR and INV which arise from the Gassman-Sunada method, must fall under one of our prior constructions, thus describing a precise classification of these objects. Due to the nature of our constructions and properties, a deep connection with finite simple groups occurs which seems, perhaps, rather surprising in the context of this paper. On the other hand, our properties define physically irreducible pairs of length equivalent manifolds - "atoms" of general pairs of length equivalent manifolds, in that such a general pair of manifolds is patched up out of irreducible pairs - and that is precisely what simple groups are for general groups.