Small isospectral and nonisometric orbifolds of dimension 2 and 3 (Q495598)

Let \(\mathbb{H}^2\) be the hyperbolic plane with the canonical metric of constant sectional curvature \(-1\). The group of orientation preserving isometries of \(\mathbb{H}^2\) is \(\text{PSL}_2(\mathbb{R})\). Let \(\Gamma\) be a Fuchsian group; \(\Gamma\) is a subgroup of \(\text{PSL}_2(\mathbb{R})\) which acts properly and discontinuously on \(\mathbb{H}^2\). Let \(H(\Gamma)=\Gamma\backslash\mathbb{H}^2\). If \(\Gamma\) is arithmetic, then \(X(\Gamma)\) is a compact oriented Riemannian 2-orbifold with finite area unless \(\Gamma\) is commensurable with \(\text{PSL}_2(\mathbb{Z})\); \(X(\Gamma)\) is a Riemann surface if and only if \(\Gamma\) is torsion free. Let \(\text{Spec}(\Gamma)\) be the spectrum of the Laplacian on \(X(\Gamma)\). The authors take up the well known question of examining orbifolds which are isospectral but non-isometric. They show: Theorem A: The minimal area of an isospectral-nonisometric pair of 2-orbifolds associated to maximal arithmetic Fuchsian groups is \(\frac{23\pi}6\) and this bound is achieved by exactly 3 pairs up to isomorphism. The underlying Riemann surfaces all have genus 0 and are described very precisely in Section 3 of the paper. Theorem B: The minimal genus of an isospectral-nonisometric pair of \(2\) manifolds associated to unitive torsion-free Fuchsian groups is 6 and this bound is achieved by exactly 2 pairs up to isomorphism. There are similar results in 3 dimensions. Theorem C: The smallest volume of a representative equivalent-nonisometric pair of 3-orbifolds associated to unitive Kleinian groups is 2.8340\dots and this bound is attained by a unique pair up to isomorphism. Theorem D: There exist representation equivalent-nonisometric isospectral 3-manifolds associated to torsion free arithmetic Kleinian groups of covolume 39.2406\dots.