Drums that sound the same

S. J. Chapman

Recently, an example was given by Gordon et al. of two drums that vibrate at exactly the same frequencies. The proof of this fact consists of mapping each resonance of the first drum onto a resonance of the second drum, and vice versa. Here we give an interpretation of this map in terms of paper folding which will allow us to generate many new isospectral drums, including a simple example in which the frequencies of vibration can be calculated explicitly.