Periodic manifolds with spectral gaps

We investigate spectral properties of the Laplace operator on a class of non-compact Riemannian manifolds. For a given number N we construct periodic manifolds such that the essential spectrum of the corresponding Laplacian has at least N open gaps. We use two different methods. First, we construct a periodic manifold starting from an infinite number of copies of a compact manifold, connected by small cylinders. In the second construction we begin with a periodic manifold which will be conformally deformed. In both constructions, a decoupling of the different period cells is responsible for the gaps.