Periodicity of the Spectrum of a Finite Union of Intervals

A set Ω, of Lebesgue measure 1, in the real line is called spectral if there is a set Λ of real numbers such that the exponential functions e _λ (x)=exp (2πiλx), λ∈Λ, form a complete orthonormal system on L ²(Ω). Such a set Λ is called a spectrum of Ω. In this note we present a simplified proof of the fact that any spectrum Λ of a set Ω which is finite union of intervals must be periodic. The original proof is due to Bose and Madan.