Isoscattering on surfaces (Q1414831)

Let \(S\) be a complete 2-dimensional Riemannian manifold with finitely many ends (briefly called a surface) allowing a conformal compactification \(\overline S\) by adding a circle or a point to each end. Choose a defining function \(\rho\) on \(\overline S\), positive on \(S\) and vanishing to first order at the boundary \(\partial\overline S\). Let \(s\) be real such that \(\lambda := s(1-s) \in (0,1/4)\). For each \(f_-\in C^\infty(\partial\overline S)\) there exist unique \(u\in C^\infty(S)\) and \(f_+\in C^\infty(\partial \overline S)\) such that \(\Delta u = \lambda u\) and \(u \sim \rho^s f_+ + \rho^{1-s}f_- + O(\rho)\) as \(\rho \to 0\). The operator \(S_s\) mapping \(f_-\) to \(f_+\) is called the scattering operator for \(s\). The map \(s \mapsto S_s\) extends to a meromorphic family of elliptic pseudodifferential operators on \(\mathbb{C}\). Two surfaces are called isoscattering if the families of scattering operators have poles of the same multiplicity at the same values of \(s\). In the present paper the authors show existence of pairs of isoscattering surfaces having -- genus \(0\) and \(8\) ends -- genus \(0\), \(15\) ends, and constant Gauss curvature \(-1\) -- genus \(1\) and \(5\) ends or genus \(2\) and \(3\) ends -- genus \(1\) and \(13\) ends or genus \(2\) and \(5\) ends or genus \(3\) and \(3\) ends and constant Gauss curvature \(-1\) -- genus \(3\) and \(1\) end or genus \(4\) and \(1\) end and constant curvature -- the inverse image of a subgroup of \(\text{PSL}(2,\mathbb{Z}/k)\) under the natural map \[ \text{PSL}(2,\mathbb{Z}) \to \text{PSL}(2,\mathbb{Z}/k) \] as fundamental group (congruence surfaces). The proofs are based on an adaption of Sunada's method for the construction of isospectral manifolds.