The question of reconstructing a geometric shape from spectra of operators (such as the Laplace operator) is decades old and an active area of research in mathematics and mathematical physics. This book focusses on the case of compact Riemannian manifolds, and, in particular, the question whether one can find finitely many natural operators that determine whether two such manifolds are isometric (coverings). The methods outlined in the book fit into the tradition of the famous work of Sunada on the construction of isospectral, non-isometric manifolds, and thus do not focus on analytic techniques, but rather on algebraic methods: in particular, the analogy with constructions in number theory, methods from representation theory, and from algebraic topology. The main goal of the book is to present the construction of finitely many “twisted� Laplace operators whose spectrum determines covering equivalence of two Riemannian manifolds. The book has a leisure pace and presents details and examples that are hard to find in the literature, concerning: fiber products of manifolds and orbifolds, the distinction between the spectrum and the spectral zeta function for general operators, strong isospectrality, twisted Laplacians, the action of isometry groups on homology groups, monomial structures on group representations, geometric and group-theoretical realisation of coverings with wreath products as covering groups, and “class field theory� for manifolds. The book contains a wealth of worked examples and open problems. After perusing the book, the reader will have a comfortable working knowledge of the algebraic approach to isospectrality.  This is an open access book.

Written by leading experts, this book explores several directions of current research at the interface between dynamics and analytic number theory. Topics include Diophantine approximation, exponential sums, Ramsey theory, ergodic theory and homogeneous dynamics. The origins of this material lie in the 'Dynamics and Analytic Number Theory' Easter School held at Durham University in 2014. Key concepts, cutting-edge results, and modern techniques that play an essential role in contemporary research are presented in a manner accessible to young researchers, including PhD students. This book will also be useful for established mathematicians. The areas discussed include ubiquitous systems and Cantor-type sets in Diophantine approximation, flows on nilmanifolds and their connections with exponential sums, multiple recurrence and Ramsey theory, counting and equidistribution problems in homogeneous dynamics, and applications of thin groups in number theory. Both dynamical and 'classical' approaches towards number theoretical problems are also provided.