Weight cycling and Serre-type conjectures for unitary groups (Q354038)

This important paper opens a new chapter in the attempts to generalize Serre's modularity conjecture from \(\mathrm{SL}(2)\) to other groups, in particular to the case of higher rank. It confirms \textit{F. Herzig}'s conjectural description in [Duke Math. J. 149, No. 1, 37--116 (2009; Zbl 1232.11065)] on the set of weights associated to a three-dimensional residual representation (characteristic \(p\)) of the absolute Galois group of a CM-field of degree larger than 2 over the rationals satisfying certain technical conditions, assuming that this representation is modular. There are two tasks to accomplish: you have to show that the weights belong to the conjectured set and to show that every conjectured weight is realized. These demand for totally different techniques, namely \(p\)-adic Hodge theory on the one side and the new process of weight cycling on the other. What the authors call weight cycling is a device which produces new weights from already achieved ones, using vanishing results for certain Hecke operators in characteristic \(p\). The machines developed for this are presented in greater generality than needed for the special case stated above in order to make the methods applicable to other situations in the future.