Completing an extension of Tunnell's theorem (Q927715): Difference between revisions

Let \(F\) be a nonarchimedean local field of characteristic not two and \(K\) a separable quadratic extension. Let \(G= \text{GL}(2,F)\). The Tunnell theorem in the title of this paper (also called the Saito-Tunnell theorem) answers the following question: if \(\pi\) is an irreducible, admissible representation of \(G\) what are the characters \(\chi\) of \(K^*\) that occur in the restriction of \(\pi\) to \(K^*\)? The answer is given in terms of the epsilon factor. \textit{D. Prasad} considered a slightly more general problem [Compos. Math. 94, No. 1, 19--28 (1994; Zbl 0824.11035), Duke Math. J. 138, No. 2, 233--261 (2007; Zbl 1129.22010)]. Let \(G^+ = \{ g \in G \mid \det(g) \in N_{K/F}(K^*)\}\). Prasad considered the representation \(\pi_\theta\) of \(G\) coming from a character \(\theta\) of \(K^*\). Then the restriction of \(\pi_\theta\) to \(G^+\) is a direct sum of two irreducible representations \(\pi_+\) and \(\pi_-\). His extension of the Tunnell theorem answers the question when a character \(\chi\) of \(K^*\) appears in \(\pi_+\) (respectively, in \(\pi_-\)). In this paper, the authors give an alternate proof of an identity of Prasad which is equivalent to his extension theorem. The proof is local and it depends only on the definition of the epsilon factor.