Cup products and \(L\)-values of cusp forms (Q1011939)

This paper conjectures a correspondence between the values of the cup product pairing of cyclotomic \(p\)-units and the algebraic periods of certain newforms. Let \(F\) be the cyclotomic field \(\mathbb Q(\mu_p)\), where \(\mu_p\) is the group of \(p\)th roots of unity. Denote by \(\mathcal{O}^*_{F,p}\) the units in the ring of \(p\)-integer in \(F\). Denote by \(A_F^{k}\) the eigenspace of the \(p\)-part of the class group of \(F\), on which \(\text{Gal}(F/\mathbb{Q})\) acts by \(k\)th power of the Teichmüller character. First the author gives a conjecture of his and McCallum's, which states that the image of the cup product pairing \(\langle\;,\;\rangle_k:\mathcal{O}_{F,p}^*\times \mathcal{O}_{F,p}^*\rightarrow A_F^{(1-k)}\otimes \mu_p\) induced from the cup product \(H^1\times H^1\rightarrow H^2\) in Galois cohomology spans \(A_F^{(1-k)}\otimes \mu_p\). This conjecture was proved for \(p<1000\) by the author in an earlier paper [Duke Math. J. 137, 63--101 (2007; Zbl 1131.11068)]. Then the author analyzes the image of cyclotomic \(p\)-units in \(F\) under the cup product \(\langle\;,\;\rangle_k\) assuming Vandiver's conjecture. Say \(p\) divides the numerator of \(B_k/k\) where \(B_k\) is the \(k\)th Bernoulli number. Denote by \(G_k\) the Eisenstein series for \(\text{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})\) of weight \(k\) and level \(1\). Let \(f\) be a newform of weight \(k\) and level \(1\) such that \(f\equiv G_k\) mod the prime above \(p\) in the ring generated by the coefficients of \(f\) over \(\mathbb{Z}\). The author conjectures that the image of the cup product pairing of cyclotomic \(p\)-units of \(F\) corresponds directly to the \(L\)-values of \(f\). Later the author also give a cleaner description of the conjecture in terms of modular symbols.