Applications of the relative trace formula in higher rank

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of the proposal is to relate period integrals defined on spaces of automorphic forms to special values of L-functions. Specifically the co-PI expects to generalize results of Waldspurger to higher rank by relating period integrals to central values of quadratic base change L-functions. The main tool to be used in this work is the relative trace formula as initiated by Jacquet. The co-PI also plans to explore the use of the relative trace formula in the study of families of L-functions with a view towards understanding how the relative trace formula can be used to attack the subconvexity problem. L-functions provide a connection between the world of automorphic forms and number theory. Special values of L-functions frequently encode important arithmetic information; for example the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture asserts that the L-function of an elliptic curve determines important information about the structure of the elliptic curve. Elliptic curves have become a focal point of much research, from Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem to cryptography.