The spectrum of the Laplace operator of a Riemannian orbifold
Liz Stanhope
Lewis & Clark College
Abstract
After a brief introduction to spectral geometry, we will discuss the degree to which the eigenvalue spectrum of the Laplace operator of a Riemannian orbifold encodes information about the orbifold. In particular, we ask, "How does the presence of mild singular points in orbifolds cause the spectral geometry of orbifolds to differ from that of manifolds?" Stated more informally, "Can you hear the singular set of an orbifold?"