Hearing the Edges: Recovering a 3D Rectangular Box from Dirichlet Eigenvalues

We investigate whether the geometric parameters of a three-dimensional domain can be recovered from the Dirichlet spectrum of the Laplacian. As a controlled benchmark, we consider rectangular boxes, about which the eigenvalues are explicitly known and the Weyl coefficients can be computed in closed form. Exploiting the short-time asymptotics of the heat trace, we extract the leading Weyl coefficients from finite spectral data and show how they encode volume, surface area, and the third spectral Weyl term. These coefficients uniquely determine the side lengths of the box via an explicit cubic reconstruction formula. Numerical experiments based on several thousand eigenvalues demonstrate that the method is stable, accurate, and robust with respect to spectral truncation. The box setting thus provides a stringent validation of the proposed inverse spectral methodology and serves as a foundation for its extension to smooth curved domains, such as triaxial ellipsoids, where explicit spectral formulas are no longer available.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Axioms
Published
2026-04-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/axioms15040284
Primary Topic
Numerical methods in inverse problems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Hearing the Edges: Recovering a 3D Rectangular Box from Dirichlet Eigenvalues

Andreas Hatziiliou, Nane Kratzke, Eldar Sultanow, Cornelius May
Axioms
Numerical methods in inverse problems
article

Hearing the Edges: Recovering a 3D Rectangular Box from Dirichlet Eigenvalues

Andreas Hatziiliou, Nane Kratzke, Eldar Sultanow, Cornelius May
article en

Abstract

We investigate whether the geometric parameters of a three-dimensional domain can be recovered from the Dirichlet spectrum of the Laplacian. As a controlled benchmark, we consider rectangular boxes, about which the eigenvalues are explicitly known and the Weyl coefficients can be computed in closed form. Exploiting the short-time asymptotics of the heat trace, we extract the leading Weyl coefficients from finite spectral data and show how they encode volume, surface area, and the third spectral Weyl term. These coefficients uniquely determine the side lengths of the box via an explicit cubic reconstruction formula. Numerical experiments based on several thousand eigenvalues demonstrate that the method is stable, accurate, and robust with respect to spectral truncation. The box setting thus provides a stringent validation of the proposed inverse spectral methodology and serves as a foundation for its extension to smooth curved domains, such as triaxial ellipsoids, where explicit spectral formulas are no longer available.

AxiomsVol. 15(4)
University of British Columbia (CA), University of Potsdam (DE), Capgemini (Netherlands) (NL), University of Lübeck (DE)
Openalex Percentile: Top 18%
Numerical methods in inverse problems
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.