Resonant rigidity of \(S^2\) (Q1969456)

Let \({\mathcal O}\) be a connected open precompact set of \(\mathbb{R}^n\) with smooth boundary and such that \(\mathbb{R}^n\setminus{\mathcal O}\) is connected. Also denote by \(R_{\mathcal O}(\lambda)= (-\Delta_{\mathbb{R}^n\setminus{\mathcal O}}- \lambda^2)^{-1}\) the resolvent of the Dirichlet-Laplacian on \(\mathbb{R}^n\setminus{\mathcal O}\), assuming that \(R_{\mathcal O}(\lambda): L^2(\mathbb{R}^n)\to H^2\cap H^1_2(\mathbb{R}^n\setminus{\mathcal O})\) for \(\text{Im }\lambda> 0\). It is known that \(R_{\mathcal O}(\lambda)\) becomes a meromorphic function when considered as a function \(R_{\mathcal O}(\lambda): L^2_{\text{comp}}(\mathbb{R}^n)\to H^2_{\text{loc}}\cap H^1_{0,\text{loc}}(\mathbb{R}^n\setminus{\mathcal O})\), for \(\lambda\in\mathbb{C}\) if \(n\) is odd, respectively for \(\lambda\) in the logarithmic plane if \(n\) is even. Denote by \(m_{\mathcal O}(\lambda)\) the multiplicity of this map at \(\lambda\) when \(\lambda\) is a pole and by \(B(0,R)\) the open ball \(B(0,R)= \{x\in \mathbb{R}^3;|x|< R\}\). The main result proved in the paper is that \({\mathcal O}= B(0,R)\) if \({\mathcal O}\subset\mathbb{R}\) and if for all \(\lambda\in C\), \(m_{\mathcal O}(\lambda)= m_{B(0,R)}(\lambda)\). In other words, in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) an open set \({\mathcal O}\) as above can have the same resonances with the sphere of radius \(R\) only if it is the sphere itself.