Eigenfrequencies of fractal drums

A method for the computation of eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes of fractal drums is presented. The approach involves first conformally mapping the unit disk to a polygon approximating the fractal and then solving a weighted eigenvalue problem on the unit disk by a spectral collocation method. The numerical computation of the complicated conformal mapping was made feasible by the use of the fast multipole method as described in [L. Banjai, L.N. Trefethen, A multipole method for Schwarz-Chlistoffel mapping of polygons with thousands of sides, SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 25(3) (2003) 1042-1065]. The linear system arising from the spectral discretization is large and dense. To circumvent this problem we devise a fast method for the inversion of such a system. Consequently, the eigenvalue problem is solved iteratively. We obtain eight digits for the first eigenvalue of the Koch snowflake and at least five digits for eigenvalues up to the 20th. Numerical results for two more fractals are shown. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All fights reserved.