We develop a version of the Kloosterman circle method with a bump function that is used to provide asymptotics for weighted representation numbers of positive definite integral quadratic forms. Unlike many applications of the Kloosterman circle method, we explicitly state some constants in the error terms that depend on the quadratic form. This version of the Kloosterman circle method uses Gauss sums, Kloosterman sums, Salié sums, and a principle of nonstationary phase. If time permits, we may discuss a potential application of this version of the Kloosterman circle method to a proof of a strong asymptotic local-global principle for certain Kleinian sphere packings.

Orbital integrals for the Lie algebra can be analyzed using the Hitchin fibration. In turn the Hitchin fibration can be analyzed via the morphism g^{reg} ----> g//G from the regular elements of the Lie algebra, to the GIT quotient by the adjoint action. In trying to generalize this story by replacing the action of G on g by the action of G on some sufficiently nice variety M, we must replace the GIT quotient with what we call the regular quotient. This talk will look at the reasons for this, and the difference between the GIT and regular quotients in the case of G acting on G by conjugation (when the derived group of G is not simply connected), G acting on the commuting scheme, and G acting on the Vinberg monoid.

Ribet’s method describes a way to construct a certain extension of fields from the existence of a suitable modular form. To do so, we consider the Galois representation of an appropriate cuspform, which gives rise to a cohomology class that cuts out our desired extension. The process of obtaining a cohomology class from such a representation is usually known as Ribet’s lemma. Several generalizations of this lemma have been stated and proved during the last decades, but the vast majority of them makes the assumption that the representation is residually distinguishable, meaning that the characters of its residual decomposition are non-congruent modulo the maximal ideal. However, recent applications of Ribet’s method, such as for the proof of the 2-part of the Brumer-Stark conjecture, have encountered the challenge that the representation we obtain does not satisfy this assumption. In my talk, I describe the limitations of the residually indistinguishable case and conjecture a new general version of Ribet’s lemma in this context, giving a proof in some particular cases.

For a smooth projective variety X over an algebraic number field a conjecture of Bloch and Beilinson predicts that the kernel of the Abel-Jacobi map of X is a torsion group. When X is a curve, this follows by the Mordell-Weil theorem. In higher dimensions however there is hardly any evidence for this conjecture. In this talk I will focus on the case when X is a product of smooth projective curves and construct infinitely many nontrivial examples that satisfy a weaker form of the Bloch-Beilinson conjecture. This relies on a recent joint work with Jonathan Love.

A surprising property of the cohomology of locally symmetric spaces is that Hecke operators can act on multiple cohomological degrees with the same eigenvalues. We will discuss this phenomenon for the coherent cohomology of line bundles on modular curves and, more generally, Hilbert modular varieties. We propose an arithmetic explanation: a hidden degree-shifting action of a certain motivic cohomology group (the Stark unit group). This extends the conjectures of Venkatesh, Prasanna, and Harris to Hilbert modular varieties.

Godement-Jacquet use the Schwartz space of n-by-n matrices to construct the standard L-function for GL_n. Ben-Zvi, Sakellaridis and Venkatesh conjecture that the local unramified part of this theory can be categorified to an equivalence between an 'analytic' category of constructible sheaves and a 'spectral' category of dg modules. In this talk I will explain the proof of this equivalence and some of its properties. I will also discuss connections to conjectures of Braverman-Kazhdan on constructions of general automorphic L-functions. This is joint work with Tsao-Hsien Chen (in preparation).

The local Langlands correspondence is a dictionary between representations of two kinds of groups: reductive p-adic groups (such as the general linear group) and the absolute Galois groups of p-adic fields. One entry in the dictionary is a conjectural formula of Hiraga, Ichino, and Ikeda for the size of a representation of a p-adic group, its "formal degree", in terms of the corresponding representation of a Galois group. In this talk, after reviewing the broad shape of p-adic representation theory, I'll explain why the conjecture is true for almost all supercuspidals, the fundamental building blocks of the subject.

We express the bias of global root numbers of Hilbert new forms of cubic level via special values of Dedekind L-functions attached to CM extensions determined by the level. In particular, our formula includes the case when weight 2 appears. We establish the formula by 1) a limit form of Jacquet-Zagier trace formula on PGL_2 associated to certain not necessarily integrable test functions at Archimedean places (when weight 2 occurs), and 2) showing the meromorphic continuation of certain Dirichlet series with coefficients given by special value of Dedekind L-functions via spectral side of the Jacquet-Zagier trace formula. This is a joint work with Q. Pi and H. Wu. arXiv: 2110.08310.

Recently A. Braverman, D. Kazhdan, and L. Lafforgue have interpreted Langlands' functoriality in terms of a generalized harmonic analysis on reductive groups that requires the existence of new spaces of functions and an associated, generally non-linear, involutive Fourier transform. This talk will discuss some of these objects involved in the local p-adic situation, after introducing some ideas and basic constructions involved. Specifically, the local Fourier transforms have a nice interpretation in terms of their spectral decomposition giving the gamma factors that appear in functional equations of L functions, which, in the standard case allows one to write down the epsilon factors attached to supercuspidal representations as non-abelian Gauss sums. For G=GL(2), we use the local Langlands correspondence to provide L and epsilon factors for odd adjoint power transfers and use this to interpret the Adjoint power Fourier-transform such that its spectral decomposition on supercuspidal representations is given explicitly by certain non-abelian Kloosterman sums, which we use to give a form of the Fourier operator.

Let G be the group of rational points of a linear algebraic group over a local field. A representation of G is distinguished by a subgroup H if it admits a non-zero H-invariant linear form. A Galois symmetric pair (G,H) is such that H=Y(F) and G=Y(E) where E/F is a quadratic extension of local fields and Y is a reductive group defined over F. In this talk we show that for a Galois symmetric pair, often the necessary condition for H-distinction of a parabolically induced representation, emerging from the geometric lemma of Berenstein-Zelevinsky, are also sufficient. In particular, we obtain a characterization of H-distinguished representations induced from cuspidal in terms of distinction of the inducing data. We explicate these results further when Y is a classical group and point out some global applications for Galois distinguished automorphic representations of SO(2n+1). This is joint work with Nadir Matringe.

Quaternionic automorphic representations are one attempt to generalize to other groups the special place holomorphic modular forms have among automorphic representations of GL2. Like holomorphic modular forms, they are defined by having their real component be one of a particularly nice class (in this case, called quaternionic discrete series). We count quaternionic automorphic representations on the exceptional group G2 by developing a G2 version of the classical Eichler-Selberg trace formula for holomorphic modular forms. There are two main technical difficulties. First, quaternionic discrete series come in L-packets with non-quaternionic members and standard invariant trace formula techniques cannot easily distinguish between discrete series with real component in the same L-packet. Using the more modern stable trace formula resolves this issue. Second, quaternionic discrete series do not satisfy a technical condition of being "regular", so the trace formula can a priori pick up unwanted contributions from automorphic representations with non-tempered components at infinity. Applying some computations of Mundy, this miraculously does not happen for our specific case of quaternionic representations on G2. Finally, we are only studying level-1 forms, so we can apply some tricks of Chenevier and Taïbi to reduce the problem to counting representations on the compact form of G2 and certain pairs of modular forms. This avoids involved computations on the geometric side of the trace formula.

Hecke operators act on many invariants associated to modular curves and their generalizations. For example, they act on modular forms and on cohomology groups of modular curves. In each of these cases, they generate a semi-simple, commutative algebra. In the first part of this talk, I will recall (in friendly, elementary, geometric terms) what Hecke operators are and how they act on the standard invariants. I will then show that they also act on loops in modular curves (aka, conjugacy classes in modular groups). In this case, the Hecke operators generate a non-commutative subalgebra of the vector space generated by the conjugacy classes, which leads to a very natural non-commutative generalization of the classical Hecke algebra. In the second part of the talk will discuss why one might want do construct such a Hecke action. As a prelude to this, I will explain why this Hecke action commutes with the natural action of the absolute Galois group after taking profinite completions. And, in the unlikely event that I have sufficient time, I will also explain how (after taking the appropriate completion) this Hecke action is also compatible with Hodge theory.

Let F be a non-archimedean local field (such as ℚ_p). The Langlands philosophy says that the arithmetic of F is intimately related to the category R(G) of smooth complex representations of G(F) where G denotes a reductive F-group (for example the general linear group). The building blocks of R(G) are the "supercuspidal" representations of G(F). I will define this term in the talk. The category R(G) comes equipped with an involution - the "contragradient" or the "dual". The supercuspidal representations of G(F) which are self-dual are of considerable interest in the subject. In this talk, I will talk about a joint work with Jeff Adler about the existence of supercuspidals and self-dual supercuspidals. Specifically, we show that G(F) always admits supercuspidal representations. Under some mild hypotheses on G, we determine precisely when G(F) admits self-dual supercuspidal representations. These results are obtained from analogous results for finite reductive groups which I will also talk about.

In the 1980’s, Greene defined hypergeometric functions over finite fields using Jacobi sums. The framework of his theory establishes that these functions possess many properties that are analogous to those of the classical hypergeometric series studied by Gauss and Kummer. These functions have played important roles in the study of Ap ́ery-style supercongruences, the Eichler-Selberg trace formula, Galois representations, and zeta-functions of arithmetic varieties. In this talk we discuss the distributions (over large finite fields) of natural families of these functions. For the 2F1 functions, the limiting distribution is semicircular, whereas the distribution for the 3F2 functions is the more exotic Batman distribution.

We consider the complex zeros of the Riemann zeta-function &rho = &beta + i &gamma, &gamma > 0. The Riemann Hypothesis (RH) is that &beta = 1/2. If we consider the vertical distribution of these zeros, then the average vertical spacing between zeros at height T is 2&pi / log T. We expect theoretically and find numerically that the distribution of the lengths of these gaps follows a certain continuous GUE distribution where both very small and very large multiples of the average spacing occur. In contrast to this, the existence of a Landau Siegel-zero would force all the gaps in a certain large range to never be closer than half the average spacing, and also have even more bizarre and unlikely properties. There are three methods that have been developed to prove something about small gaps. First, Selberg in the 1940's using moments for the number of zeros in short intervals, was able to prove unconditionally that there are some gaps larger than the average spacing and others smaller than the average spacing. Next assuming RH Montgomery in 1972 introduced a pair correlation method for zeros and produced small gaps less than 0.67 times the average spacing. Finally, in 1981 Montgomery-Odlyzko assuming RH introduced a Dirichlet polynomial weighted method which found small gaps less then 0.5179 times the average spacing. (This method was further developed by Conrey, Ghosh, and Gonek.) These methods all exhibit the presumed barrier at 1/2 times the average spacing for small gaps. I will talk about two projects that are work in progress. The first is joint with Hugh Montgomery and is motivated by the observations that all the results mentioned above do not exclude the possibility that the small gaps found are all coming from multiple zeros and thus gaps of length zero, and at present we do not know if there are any non-zero gaps that are shorter then the average spacing. While we have not yet be able to prove there are any smaller than average non-zero gaps, we can quantify the relationship between non-zero gaps and multiple zeros and show there is a positive proportion of one or the other. The second project is joint work with Caroline Turnage-Butterbaugh where we have developed a Dirichlet Polynomial Weighted Pair Correlation Method which potentially can be applied to a number of questions on zeros.

We prove that, when monic quintic integral polynomials f\in \Z[x] with nonzero discriminant are ordered by height, the average number of solutions to y^2 = f(x) is bounded.

Holomorphic modular forms on the Shimura variety S(G) attached to the reductive group G can be interpreted naturally as sections of automorphic vector bundles: locally free sheaves that can be defined analytically by exploiting the structure of a Shimura variety as a quotient of a symmetric space. The construction can also be made algebraic, and in this way one gets a canonical functor from the tensor category of representations of a certain Levi subgroup K of G to the tensor category of vector bundles on S(G), and thus a homomorphism from the representation ring of K to K_0(S(G)). When S(G) is compact we determine how the image of this homomorphism behaves under Chern characters to Deligne cohomology and continuous l-adic cohomology. When S(G) is non-compact and of abelian type, we use perfectoid geometry to define Chern classes in the l-adic cohomology of the minimal compactification of S(G); these are analogous to the topological cohomology classes defined by Goresky and Pardon, using differential geometry. (Joint work with Helene Esnault.)

Let M be a compact Riemannian manifold, and f an L^2 normalised Laplace eigenfunction on M. A popular question in semiclassical analysis is how well one can bound the other L^p norms of f, or its restriction to a submanifold. I will give an introduction to this problem, and describe how one can make progress on it using the additional assumptions that M is arithmetic and f is a Hecke-Maass form.

Laplace gave the simplest early statement of reductionism. His Demon, if supplied with the positions and momenta of all the particles in the universe, could, using Newton's laws, calculate the entire future and past of the universe. Add fields, quantum mechanics, and General Relativity and you have, roughly, modern physics. There are four features to Laplace's reductionism: (I) Everything that happens is deterministic, called into question a century later by quantum mechanics and the familiar Copenhagen interpretation and Born rule. (ii) All that is ontologically real are "nothing but" particles in motion. (iii) All that happens in the universe is describable by universal laws. (iv) There exists at least one language able to describe all of reality. Quantum mechanics is evidence against (i). I will argue that biological evolution, the coming into existence in the universe of hearts and humming birds co-evolving with the flowers that feed them and that they pollenate, cannot be deduced or simulated from the basic laws of physics. In Weinberg's phrase, they are not entailed by the laws of physics. I will then claim that at levels above the atom, the universe will never make all possible proteins length 200 amino acids, all possible organisms, or all possible social systems. The universe is indefinitely open upwards in complexity. More, proteins, organisms, and social systems are ontologically real, not just particles in motion. Most radically, I will contest (iii). I will try to show that we cannot pre-state Darwinian pre-adaptations, where a pre-adaptation is a feature of an organism of no use in the current selective environment, but of use in a different environment, hence selected for a novel function. Swim bladders are an example. Let me define the "adjacent possible" of the biosphere. Once there were the lung fish that gave rise to swim bladders, swim bladders were in the adjacent possible of the biosphere. Before there were multi-celled organisms, swim bladders were not in the adjacent possible of the biosphere. What I am claiming is that we cannot pre-state the adjacent possible of the biosphere. How could we pre-state the selective conditions? How could we pre-specify the features of one or several organisms that might become pre-adaptations? How could we know that we had completed the list? The implications are profound, if true. First, we can make no probability statement about pre-adaptations, for we do not know the sample space, so can formulate no probability measure. Most critically, if a natural law is a compact description before hand and afterward of the regularities of a process, then there can be no natural law sufficient to describe the emergence of swim bladders. Thus, the unfolding of the universe is partially lawless! This contradicts our settled convictions since Descartes, Galileo, Newton, Einstein and Schrödinger. It says that (iii) is false. In place of law is a ceaseless creativity, a self consistent self construction of the biosphere, the economy, our cultures, partially beyond law. Were reductionism sufficient, the existence of swim bladders in the universe would be entailed by physical law, hence "explained". But it appears that physics, as stated, is not sufficient in its reductionist version. Then we must explain the existence in the universe of swim bladders and humming birds pollenating flowers that feed them, on some different ground. We need a post-reductionist science. Autocatalytic mutualisms of organisms, the biosphere, and much of the economy, may be part of the explanation we seek. In turn this raises profound questions about how causal systems can coordinate their behaviors, let alone the role of energy, work, power, power efficiency, in the self-consistent construction of a biosphere. There is a lot to think about.

We will describe new algorithms to compute an explicit finite simplicial model for compact, congruence locally symmetric spaces and Hecke actions thereon. Joint work with Aurel Page.

Higher theta functions are the residues of Eisenstein series on covers of the adelic points of classical groups. On the one hand, they generalize the Jacobi theta function. On the other, their Whittaker-Fourier coefficients are not understood, even for covers of $GL_2$. In this talk I explain how, using methods of descent, one may establish a series of relations between the coefficients of theta functions on different groups. In the first instance, this allows us to prove a version of Patterson's famous conjecture relating the Fourier coefficient of the biquadratic theta function to quartic Gauss sums. This is based on joint work with David Ginzburg.

So far, the circle method has been a very useful tool to prove many cases of Manin's conjecture on the number of rational points of bounded anticanonical height on Fano varieties. Work of B. Birch back in 1962 establishes this for smooth complete intersections in projective space as soon as the number of variables is large enough depending on the degree and number of equations. In this talk we are interested in subvarieties of biprojective space. There is not much known so far, unless the underlying polynomials are of bidegree (1,1) or (1,2). In this talk we present recent work which combines the circle method with the generalised hyperbola method developed by V. Blomer and J. Bruedern. This allows us to verify Manin's conjecture for certain smooth hypersurfaces in biprojective space of general bidegree.

We provide a construction of free factorization algebras in algebraic geometry and link factorization homology of a scheme with coefficients in a free factorization algebra to the homology of its (unordered) configuration spaces. As an application, we obtain a purely algebro-geometric proof of homological stability of configuration spaces.