On the Gan-Gross-Prasad problem for finite unitary groups (Q2663065): Difference between revisions

This paper considers the local Gan-Gross-Prasad conjecture, concerning multiplicities \(m(\pi,\pi') = \dim\,\mathrm{Hom}_{H}(\pi,\pi')\) for irreducible representations \(\pi\) and \(\pi'\) of two classical groups with a common subgroup \(H\). The first main theorem here (Theorem 1.1) addresses the problem in the case of two finite unitary groups \(U_n(\mathbb{F}_q)\) and \(U_m(\mathbb{F}_q)\), and unipotent representations \(\pi\), \(\pi'\) of these. In more detail, the unipotent irreducible representations of \(U_n(\mathbb{F}_q)\) are parametrized in terms of irreducible representations of the symmetric group \(S_n\), which in turn correspond to partitions of \(n\). If \(\lambda\) and \(\lambda'\) are partitions of \(n\) and \(m\) respectively, with corresponding irreducible representations \(\pi_{\lambda}\) and \(\pi_{\lambda'}\), then \(m(\pi_{\lambda},\pi_{\lambda'}) = 1\) precisely when \(\lambda\) and \(\lambda'\) are 2-transverse, and is \(0\) otherwise. Here, `2-transverse' is a combinatorial condition introduced by \textit{A.-M. Aubert} et al. [Duke Math. J. 83, No. 2, 353--397 (1996; Zbl 0856.22027)]. The second main result (Theorem 1.2) is similar but more intricate, allowing \(\pi'\) to run over arbitrary irreducible representations of \(U_n(\mathbb{F}_q)\), at the cost of more delicate conditions involving the description of \(\pi'\) in terms of Deligne-Lusztig induction from a subgroup \(U_{\ell} \times U_{m}\) of \(U_{\ell + m}\) with \(\ell + m \le n + 1\). In Corollary 1.3, this is used to describe the restriction of every unipotent representation of \(U_n(\mathbb{F}_q)\) to a subgroup \(U_{n-1}(\mathbb{F}_q)\). The proofs of these results separate out into the so-called Bessel case (where \(n - m\) is odd), and the Fourier-Jacobi case (\(n - m\) even). Proofs are only given in the former case; the latter is similar and omitted. Ultimately, the argument comes down to an induction on the dimension \(n\) using a see-saw argument between two reductive dual pairs, similar to that given by Gan-Gross-Prasad themselves working over local fields (see Section 3.1 for more details). The Lusztig correspondence and Reeder's branching formula also play a central role.