Pre-compactness of isospectral sets for the neumann operator on planar domains

The Neumann operator maps the boundary value of a harmonic function tc its normal derivative. The inverse spectral properties of the Neumann operator associated to smooth, planar, Jordan curves are studied. The Riemann mapping theorem is used tc parametrize the set of planar Jordan curves by positive functions on the unit circle. By studying the zeta function associated to the spectrum, it is shown that isospectral sets of these functions are pre-compact in the topology of the L²-Sobolev space of order 5/2 - euro]. Spectral criteria are given for the limiting curves of an isospectral set to be Jordan. A spectrally determined lower bound on the area of the interior of the curve is given.