Flat manifolds isospectral on p-forms

We study isospectrality on p-forms of compact flat manifolds by using the equivariant spectrum of the Hodge-Laplacian on the torus. We give an explicit formula for the multiplicity of eigenvalues and a criterion for isospectrality. We construct a variety of new isospectral pairs, some of which are the first such examples in the context of compact Riemannian manifolds. For instance, we give pairs of flat manifolds of dimension n=2p, p≥2, not homeomorphic to each other, which are isospectral on p-forms but not on q-forms for q∈p, 0≤q≤n. Also, we give manifolds isospectral on p-forms if and only if p is odd, one of them orientable and the other not, and a pair of 0-isospectral flat manifolds, one of them Kähler, and the other not admitting any Kähler structure. We also construct pairs, M, M′ of dimension n≥6, which are isospectral on functions and such that β_p(M)<β_p(M’), for 04 and ? ₂ ² , respectively.     

Spectral Properties of Four-Dimensional Compact Flat Manifolds

We study the spectral properties of a large class of compact flat Riemannian manifolds of dimension 4, namely, those whose corresponding Bieberbach groups have the canonical lattice as translation lattice. By using the explicit expression of the heat trace of the Laplacian acting on p-forms, we determine all p-isospectral and L-isospectral pairs and we show that in this class of manifolds, isospectrality on functions and isospectrality on p-forms for all values of p are equivalent to each other. The list shows for any p, 1 ≤ p ≤ 3, many p-isospectral pairs that are not isospectral on functions and have different lengths of closed geodesics. We also determine all length isospectral pairs (i.e. with the same length multiplicities), showing that there are two weak length isospectral pairs that are not length isospectral, and many pairs, p-isospectral for all p and not length isospectral. Mathematics Subject Classifications (2000): 58J53, 58C22, 20H15.     

Length minimizing geodesics and the length spectrum of Riemannian two-step nilmanifolds

In the first part of this article, we prove an explicit lower bound on the distance to the cut point of an arbitrary geodesic in a simply connected two-step nilpotent Lie group G with a lieft invariant metric. As a result, we obtaine a lower bound on the injectivity radius of a simply connected two-step nilpotent Lie group with a left invariant metric. We use this lower bound to determine the form of certain length minimizing geodesics from the identity to elements in the center of G. We also give an example of a two-step nilpotent Lie group G such that along most geodesics in this group, the cut point and the first conjugate point do not coincide. In the second part of this article, we examine the relation between the Laplace spectrum and the length spectrum on nilmanifolds by showing that a method developed by Gordon and Wilson for constructing families of isospectral two-step nilmanifolds necessarily yields manifolds with the same length spectrum. As a consequence, all known methods for constructing families of isospectral two-step nilmanifolds necessarily yield manifolds with the same length spectrum. In memory of Robert Brooks     

The marked length spectrum vs. the Laplace spectrum on forms on Riemannian nilmanifolds

The subject of this paper is the relationships among the marked length spectrum, the length spectrum, the Laplace spectrum on functions, and the Laplace spectrum on forms on Riemannian nilmanifolds. In particular, we show that for a large class of three-step nilmanifolds, if a pair of nilmanifolds in this class has the same marked length spectrum, they necessarily share the same Laplace spectrum on functions. In contrast, we present the first example of a pair of isospectral Riemannian manifolds with the same marked length spectrum but not the same spectrum on one-forms. Outside of the standard spheres vs. the Zoll spheres, which are not even isospectral, this is the only example of a pair of Riemannian manifolds with the same marked length spectrum, but not the same spectrum on forms. This partially extends and partially contrasts the work of Eberlein, who showed that on two-step nilmanifolds, the same marked length spectrum implies the same Laplace spectrum both on functions and on forms. Research at MSRI supported in part by NSF grant DMS-9022140. Research at MSRI and Texas Tech supported in part by NSF grant DMS-9409209.     

Continuous families of Riemannian manifolds, Isospectral on functions but not on 1-forms

The purpose of this paper is to present the first continuous families of Riemannian manifolds that are isospectral on functions but not on 1-forms, and, simultaneously, the first continuous families of Riemannian manifolds with the same marked length spectrum but not the same 1-form spectrum. Examples of isospectral manifolds that are not isospectral on forms are sparse, as most examples of isospectral manifolds can be explained by Sunada’s method or its generalizations, hence are strongly isospectral. The examples here are three-step Riemannian nilmanifolds, arising from a general method for constructing isospectral Riemannian nilmanifolds previously presented by the author. Gordon and Wilson constructed the first examples of nontrivial isospectral deformations, continuous families of Riemannian nilmanifolds. Isospectral manifolds constructed using the Gordon-Wilson method, a generalized Sunada method, are strongly isospectral and must have the same marked length spectrum. Conversely, Ouyang and Pesce independently showed that all isospectral deformations of two-step nilmanifolds must arise from the Gordon-Wilson method, and Eberlein showed that all pairs of two-step nilmanifolds with the same marked length spectrum must come from the Gordon-Wilson method. To the memory of Hubert Pesce, a valued friend and colleague.     

Integrability of geodesic flows and isospectrality of Riemannian manifolds

We construct a pair of compact, eight-dimensional, two-step Riemannian nilmanifolds M and M′ which are isospectral for the Laplace operator on functions and such that M has completely integrable geodesic flow in the sense of Liouville, while M′ has not. Moreover, for both manifolds we analyze the structure of the submanifolds of the unit tangent bundle given by two maximal continuous families of closed geodesics with generic velocity fields. The structure of these submanifolds turns out to reflect the above (non)integrability properties. On the other hand, their dimension is larger than that of the Lagrangian tori in M, indicating a degeneracy which might explain the fact that the wave invariants do not distinguish an integrable from a nonintegrable system here. Finally, we show that for M, the invariant eight-dimensional tori which are foliated by closed geodesics are dense in the unit tangent bundle, and that both M and M′ satisfy the so-called Clean Intersection Hypothesis. The author was partially supported by DFG Sonderforschungsbereich 647.     

Isospectral potentials and conformally equivalent isospectral metrics on spheres,balls and Lie groups

We construct pairs of conformally equivalent isospectral Riemannian metrics ?1g and ?2g on spheres Sⁿ and balls Bⁿ⁺¹ for certain dimensions n, the smallest of which is n=7, and on certain compact simple Lie groups. In the case of Lie groups, the metric g is left-invariant. In the case of spheres and balls, the metric g not the standard metric but may be chosen arbitrarily close to the standard one. For the same manifolds (M, g) we also show that the functions ?₁ and ?₂ are isospectral potentials for the Schrödinger operator ?₂\gD + \gf. To our knowledge, these are the first examples of isospectral potentials and of isospectral conformally equivalent metrics on simply connected closed manifolds.     

The inaudible geometry of nilmanifolds

Summary We show that isospectral deformations of compact Riemannian two-step nilmanifolds can be systematically detected by simple changes in the behavior of their geodesics, in spite of the fact that the length spectrum (which measures the lengths of all closed geodesics) remains constant.Oblatum 22-III-1992     

Isospectral finiteness on hyperbolic 3‐manifolds

In this paper we show that for a given set of lengths of closed geodesics, there are only finitely many convex‐cocompact, hyperbolic 3‐manifolds with incompressible boundary, up to orientation‐preserving isometries. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

One cannot hear orbifold isotropy type

We show that the isotropy types of the singularities of Riemannian orbifolds are not determined by the Laplace spectrum. Indeed, we construct arbitrarily large families of mutually isospectral orbifolds with different isotropy types. Finally, we show that the corresponding singular strata of two isospectral orbifolds may not be homeomorphic. Received: 6 October 2005     

Multiple closed geodesics on 3-spheres

This paper is devoted to a study on closed geodesics on Finsler and Riemannian spheres. We call a prime closed geodesic on a Finsler manifold rational, if the basic normal form decomposition (cf. [Y. Long, Bott formula of the Maslov-type index theory, Pacific J. Math. 187 (1999) 113-149]) of its linearized Poincaré map contains no 2×2 rotation matrix with rotation angle which is an irrational multiple of π, or irrational otherwise. We prove that if there exists only one prime closed geodesic on a d-dimensional irreversible Finsler sphere with d?2, it cannot be rational. Then we further prove that there exist always at least two distinct prime closed geodesics on every irreversible Finsler 3-dimensional sphere. Our method yields also at least two geometrically distinct closed geodesics on every reversible Finsler as well as Riemannian 3-dimensional sphere. We prove also such results hold for all compact simply connected 3-dimensional manifolds with irreversible or reversible Finsler as well as Riemannian metrics.     

Isoscattering deformations for complete manifolds of negative curvature

We construct continuous families of nonisometric metrics on simply connected manifolds of dimension n ≥ 9which have the same scattering phase, the same resolvent resonances, and strictly negative sectional curvatures. This situation contrasts sharply with the case of compact manifolds of negative curvature, where Guillemin/Kazhdan, Min-Oo, and Croke/Sharafutdinov showed that there are no nontrivial isospectral deformations of such metrics.     

Generation of isospectral graphs

We discuss a discrete version of Sunada's Theorem on isospectral manifolds, which allows the generation of isospectral simple graphs, i.e., nonisomorphic simple graphs that have the same Laplace spectrum. We also consider additional boundary conditions and Buser's transplantation technique applied to a discrete situation. © John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 31: 255–265, 1999     

Isospectral orbifolds with different maximal isotropy orders

We construct pairs of compact Riemannian orbifolds which are isospectral for the Laplace operator on functions such that the maximal isotropy order of singular points in one of the orbifolds is higher than in the other. In one type of examples, isospectrality arises from a version of the famous Sunada theorem which also implies isospectrality on p-forms; here the orbifolds are quotients of certain compact normal homogeneous spaces. In another type of examples, the orbifolds are quotients of Euclidean and are shown to be isospectral on functions using dimension formulas for the eigenspaces developed in [12]. In the latter type of examples the orbifolds are not isospectral on 1-forms. Along the way we also give several additional examples of isospectral orbifolds which do not have maximal isotropy groups of different size but other interesting properties. All three authors were partially supported by DFG Sonderforschungsbereich 647.     

Comparison of Twisted P-Form Spectra for Flat Manifolds with Diagonal Holonomy

We give an explicit formula for the multiplicities of the eigenvalues ofthe Laplacian acting on sections of natural vector bundles over acompact flat Riemannian manifold M = \ ⁿ , a Bieberbach group. In the case of the Laplacian acting onp-forms, twisted by a unitary character of , when hasdiagonal holonomy group F ₂ ^k , these multiplicities have acombinatorial expression in terms of integral values of Krawtchoukpolynomials and the so called Sunada numbers. If the Krawtchoukpolynomial K _p ⁿ (x)does not have an integral root, this expressioncan be inverted and conversely, the presence of such roots allows toproduce many examples of p-isospectral manifolds that are notisospectral on functions. We compare the notions of twistedp-isospectrality, twisted Sunada isospectrality and twisted finitep-isospectrality, a condition having to do with a finite part of thespectrum, proving several implications among them and getting a converseto Sunada's theorem in our context, for n 8. Furthermore, a finitepart of the spectrum determines the full spectrum. We give new pairs ofnonhomeomorphic flat manifolds satisfying some kind of isospectralityand not another. For instance: (a) manifolds which are isospectral onp-forms for only a few values of p 0, (b) manifolds which aretwisted isospectral for every , a nontrivial character of F, and(c) large twisted isospectral sets.     

Morse Theory for Geodesics in Conical Manifolds

The aim of this paper is to extend the Morse theory for geodesics to the conical manifolds. In a previous paper [15] we defined these manifolds as submanifolds of with a finite number of conical singularities. To formulate a good Morse theory we use an appropriate definition of geodesic, introduced in the cited work. The main theorem of this paper (see Theorem 3.6, section 3) proofs that, although the energy is nonsmooth, we can find a continuous retraction of its sublevels in absence of critical points. So, we can give a good definition of index for isolated critical values and for isolated critical points. We prove that Morse relations hold and, at last, we give a definition of multiplicity of geodesics which is geometrical meaningful. In section 5 we compare our theory with the weak slope approach existing in literature. Some examples are also provided.     

Insecurity for compact surfaces of positive genus

A pair of points in a riemannian manifold M is secure if the geodesics between the points can be blocked by a finite number of point obstacles; otherwise the pair of points is insecure. A manifold is secure if all pairs of points in M are secure. A manifold is insecure if there exists an insecure point pair, and totally insecure if all point pairs are insecure. Compact, flat manifolds are secure. A standing conjecture says that these are the only secure, compact riemannian manifolds. We prove this for surfaces of genus greater than zero. We also prove that a closed surface of genus greater than one with any riemannian metric and a closed surface of genus one with generic metric are totally insecure.     

On an Archimedean analogue of Tate's conjecture

We consider an Archimedean analogue of Tate's conjecture, and verify the conjecture in the examples of isospectral Riemann surfaces constructed by Vignéras and Sunada. We prove a simple lemma in group theory which lies at the heart of T. Sunada's theorem about isospectral manifolds.     

On inaudible curvature properties of closed Riemannian manifolds

Following Mark Kac, it is said that a geometric property of a compact Riemannian manifold can be heard if it can be determined from the eigenvalue spectrum of the associated Laplace operator on functions. On the contrary, D’Atri spaces, manifolds of type A{\mathcal{A}}, probabilistic commutative spaces, \mathfrakC{\mathfrak{C}}-spaces, \mathfrakTC{\mathfrak{TC}}-spaces, and \mathfrakGC{\mathfrak{GC}}-spaces have been studied by many authors as symmetric-like Riemannian manifolds. In this article, we prove that for closed Riemannian manifolds, none of the properties just mentioned can be heard. Another class of interest is the class of weakly symmetric manifolds. We consider the local version of this property and show that weak local symmetry is another inaudible property of Riemannian manifolds.     

Wave Invariants of the Spectrum of the G-Invariant Laplacian and the Basic Spectrum of a Riemannian Foliation

Given a compact boundaryless Riemannian manifold upon which a compact Lie group G acts by isometries, recall that the G-invariant Laplacian is the restriction of the ordinary Laplacian on functions to the space of functions which are constant along the orbits of the action. By considering the wave trace of the invariant Laplacian and the connection between G manifolds and Riemannian foliations, invariants of the spectrum of the G-invariant Laplacian can be computed. These invariants include the lengths of certain geodesic arcs which are orthogonal to the principal orbits and contained in the open dense set of principal orbits are associated to the singularities of the wave trace of the G-invariant spectrum. If the action admits finite orbits, then the invariants also include the lengths of certain geodesics arcs connecting the finite orbit to itself. Under additional hypotheses, we obtain partial wave traces. As an application, a partial trace formula for Riemannian foliations with bundle-like metrics is also presented, as well as several special cases where better results are available.