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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Dendrochronological Dating and Provenancing of String Instruments
Published on: October 6, 2022
Can one count the shape of a drum?
Sven Gnutzmann1, Panos D Karageorge, Uzy Smilansky
1Department of Physics of Complex Systems, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Abstract:
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.
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