Let be a flat torus, where is a full-rank Euclidean lattice, and use the nonnegative Laplace-Beltrami operator . The dual lattice is
For , the function is periodic under , so it defines a function on , and direct differentiation gives . Integrating characters on a fundamental parallelepiped proves that these functions are orthonormal. After choosing a lattice basis, the ordinary Fourier series theorem on proves completeness, so there are no additional eigenvalues. Thus the spectrum of a flat torus is
with multiplicity equal to the number of dual vectors of the given length; the zero eigenvalue occurs once.
It remains to show that a two-dimensional Euclidean lattice is determined up to an orthogonal transformation by its vector-length multiset. This is the two-dimensional lattice reconstruction from vector lengths. Let be a shortest nonzero vector, of length . It is primitive: with integer would give a shorter nonzero vector. The lattice vectors on its line are therefore precisely the integer multiples of . Subtract two occurrences of each length , , from the length multiset. This removes exactly one primitive lattice line, even when other vectors happen to have the same lengths. The smallest remaining length is the length of a shortest vector independent of .
These two vectors form a basis of the lattice. Otherwise a nonzero coset of has a lattice representative with . It cannot have , since primitivity of would then force . It is therefore independent of , while
The inequality is strict: if both coefficients are nonzero, the vectors are not parallel and the triangle inequality is strict; if , then . This contradicts the choice of .
The covolume is also determined by the length multiset. If counts lattice vectors in a radius- disk, then
To justify the estimate, tile the plane by a bounded fundamental parallelogram. Only cells meeting a fixed-width neighbourhood of the disk boundary contribute an error; their total number is . The lattice basis has Gram matrix
Thus is determined. Replacing by makes , so the Gram matrix is determined entirely. Equal Gram matrices give an orthogonal map between the lattice bases and hence between the lattices.
Two isospectral two-dimensional flat tori consequently have orthogonally equivalent dual lattices. Taking duals shows that their original lattices are orthogonally equivalent too, and the orthogonal map descends to an isometry of the quotient tori. Two isospectral flat tori of dimension two are isometric.
Use the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator, . A flat torus is the quotient , where is a full-rank Euclidean lattice and the metric descends from the Euclidean metric. Its dual lattice is
If is the covolume of , the functions descend to the torus. Direct differentiation gives the spectrum of a flat torus:
The multiset includes one entry for each dual vector. In particular zero has multiplicity one. Writing identifies the dual vectors with , . Standard Fourier series on the unit cube then prove that these functions are an orthonormal basis of on the torus. If , its Fourier coefficients satisfy . Thus every eigenfunction is a linear combination of the indicated shell of frequencies, with no additional eigenvalues. Compactness gives the discrete self-adjoint realization, whose eigenfunctions are smooth. For real functions the two characters at become cosine and sine, giving the same real multiplicities. The opposite Laplacian sign would negate all displayed eigenvalues without changing the rigidity conclusion.
To prove two-dimensional spectral rigidity, let and recover its Gram matrix from its vector-length multiset. Let be the shortest nonzero length and choose with . This vector is primitive: a proper integer multiple would have a shorter lattice vector. Hence . From the spectral multiset subtract exactly two occurrences of each length , . The remaining multiset consists precisely of the vectors not on this line, including correct multiplicities at coincident lengths. Its least length is the length of a shortest vector independent of .
The pair is a basis of . Otherwise take a lattice point in a nonzero coset of and reduce its two coefficients into . The resulting nonzero lattice vector is not on , by primitivity of . But
with strict inequality: when both coefficients are nonzero the triangle inequality is strict for independent vectors, and when one vanishes its length is at most . This contradicts the definition of . Subtract an integer multiple of from and, if necessary, change its sign to arrange ; minimality of makes this reduction possible without decreasing its length.
The covolume of is also spectral. The count of lattice vectors with length at most obeys
For example, translate a bounded fundamental parallelogram of diameter bound : the union of tiles with centres in contains and lies inside . Comparing their areas proves the leading coefficient. The spectrum supplies this count. Since is a lattice basis, its parallelogram area satisfies . Therefore
All three quantities are determined by the spectrum. Equal Gram matrices give an orthogonal map between the dual lattices; taking duals gives an orthogonal map between the original lattices, descending to a Riemannian isometry of the tori. Isospectral flat two-tori are isometric. This is the two-dimensional lattice reconstruction from vector lengths; it uses lengths with multiplicities, not merely the set of distinct lengths.