Can One Count the Shape of a Drum?
- Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin (Germany)
- School of Mathematics, Bristol University, Bristol BS81TW (United Kingdom)
- Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel)
Sequences of nodal counts store information on the geometry (metric) of the domain where the wave equation is considered. To demonstrate this statement, we consider the eigenfunctions of the Laplace-Beltrami operator on surfaces of revolution. Arranging the wave functions by increasing values of the eigenvalues, and counting the number of their nodal domains, we obtain the nodal sequence whose properties we study. This sequence is expressed as a trace formula, which consists of a smooth (Weyl-like) part which depends on global geometrical parameters, and a fluctuating part, which involves the classical periodic orbits on the torus and their actions (lengths). The geometrical content of the nodal sequence is thus explicitly revealed.
- OSTI ID:
- 20860736
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 97, Issue 9; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.090201; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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