Introduction to Isospectrality

"Can one hear the shape of a drum?" This striking question, made famous by Mark Kac, conceals a precise mathematical problem, whose study led to sophisticated mathematics. This textbook presents the theory underlying the problem, for the first time in a form accessible to students. Specifically, this book provides a detailed presentation of Sunada's method and the construction of non-isometric yet isospectral drum membranes, as first discovered by Gordon–Webb–Wolpert. The book begins with an int