Boundary volume and length spectra of Riemannian manifolds: what the middle degree Hodge spectrum doesn't reveal. (Q1878473): Difference between revisions

Let \(M\) be a compact Riemannian manifold with smooth boundary of even dimension \(m=2\bar m\). Let \(\Delta^p:=d^*d+dd^*\) on \(C^\infty(\Lambda^pM)\) be the Hodge Laplacian acting on the space of smooth \(p\) forms. If the boundary of \(M\) is non-empty, impose absolute boundary conditions. The authors give a simple method for obtaining manifolds which are isospectral in the middle degree \(p=\bar m\). Examples include a cylinder, a Möbius strip, and a Klein bottle; pairs of cylinders with different boundary lengths; a hemisphere and a projective space; products \(S(r)\times P(s)\) and \(P(r)\times S(s)\) where \(P(t)\) (resp. \(S(t)\) denote a projective space (resp. sphere) of radius \(t\)); and other examples. They show Theorem. The middle degree Hodge spectrum of an even dimensional Riemannian manifold does not determine the volume of the boundary or even if the boundary is nonempty. It does not determine the geodesic length spectrum or injectivity radius. It does not determine the length of the shortest closed geodesic. The authors also consider orbifolds. They show Theorem. The middle degree Hodge spectrum cannot distinguish Riemannian manifolds from Riemannian orbifolds with singularities.