Can one hear the shape of a crystal?
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866915138507898880 |
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| author | Wang, Haina Torquato, Salvatore |
| author_facet | Wang, Haina Torquato, Salvatore |
| contents | Isospectrality is a general fundamental concept often involving whether various operators can have identical spectra, i.e., the same set of eigenvalues. In the context of the Laplacian operator, the famous question ``Can one hear the shape of a drum?'' concerns whether different shaped drums can have the same vibrational modes. The isospectrality of a lattice in $d$-dimensional Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^d$ is a tantamount to whether it is uniquely determined by its theta series, i.e., the radial distribution function $g_2(r)$. While much is known about the isospectrality of Bravais lattices across dimensions, little is known about this question of more general crystal (periodic) structures with an $n$-particle basis ($n \ge 2$). Here, we ask, What is $n_{\text{min}}(d)$, the minimum value of $n$ for inequivalent (i.e., unrelated by isometric symmetries) crystals with the same theta function in space dimension $d$? To answer these questions, we use rigorous methods as well as a precise numerical algorithm that enables us to determine the minimum multi-particle basis of inequivalent isospectral crystals. Our algorithm identifies isospectral 4-, 3- and 2-particle bases in one, two and three spatial dimensions, respectively. For many of these isospectral crystals, we rigorously show that they indeed possess identical $g_2(r)$ up to infinite $r$. Based on our analyses, we conjecture that $n_{\text{min}}(d) = 4, 3, 2$ for $d = 1, 2, 3$, respectively. The identification of isospectral crystals enables one to study the degeneracy of the ground-state under the action of isotropic pair potentials. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_02819 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Can one hear the shape of a crystal? Wang, Haina Torquato, Salvatore Soft Condensed Matter Mathematical Physics Isospectrality is a general fundamental concept often involving whether various operators can have identical spectra, i.e., the same set of eigenvalues. In the context of the Laplacian operator, the famous question ``Can one hear the shape of a drum?'' concerns whether different shaped drums can have the same vibrational modes. The isospectrality of a lattice in $d$-dimensional Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^d$ is a tantamount to whether it is uniquely determined by its theta series, i.e., the radial distribution function $g_2(r)$. While much is known about the isospectrality of Bravais lattices across dimensions, little is known about this question of more general crystal (periodic) structures with an $n$-particle basis ($n \ge 2$). Here, we ask, What is $n_{\text{min}}(d)$, the minimum value of $n$ for inequivalent (i.e., unrelated by isometric symmetries) crystals with the same theta function in space dimension $d$? To answer these questions, we use rigorous methods as well as a precise numerical algorithm that enables us to determine the minimum multi-particle basis of inequivalent isospectral crystals. Our algorithm identifies isospectral 4-, 3- and 2-particle bases in one, two and three spatial dimensions, respectively. For many of these isospectral crystals, we rigorously show that they indeed possess identical $g_2(r)$ up to infinite $r$. Based on our analyses, we conjecture that $n_{\text{min}}(d) = 4, 3, 2$ for $d = 1, 2, 3$, respectively. The identification of isospectral crystals enables one to study the degeneracy of the ground-state under the action of isotropic pair potentials. |
| title | Can one hear the shape of a crystal? |
| topic | Soft Condensed Matter Mathematical Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.02819 |