Formules limites et formules asymptotiques pour les multiplicités dans \(L^ 2(G/\Gamma)\). (Limit formulas and asymptotic formulas for the multiplicities in \(L^ 2(G/\Gamma))\) (Q1091487)

Let G be a linear, connected, semisimple Lie group and let \(\Gamma\) be a discrete cocompact torsion free subgroup of G. Under the left regular representation, \(L^ 2(G/\Gamma)\) decomposes into a direct sum of irreducible subrepresentations, each \(\pi\in \hat G\) occurring with finite multiplicity \(m(\pi,\Gamma)\), \(0\leq m(\pi,\Gamma)<\infty\). It is an open problem to determine the numbers \(m(\pi,\Gamma)\). Let \(\{\Gamma_ i\}\) be a decreasing sequence of discrete normal subgroups of finite index of \(\Gamma\) such that \(\cap \Gamma_ i=\{e\}\); fix a Haar measure on G and let \(G/\Gamma_ i\) be given the induced G- invariant measure. It was conjectured by \textit{D. L. DeGeorge} and \textit{N. R. Wallach} [[DW], Ann. Math., II. Ser. 107, 133-150 (1978; Zbl 0397.22007)] that for any open regular subset S of \(\hat G\) (i.e. \(\mu(\bar S)= \mu(S)\), where \(\mu\) is the Plancherel measure) one has \[ (1)\;\lim_{i\to \infty}vol(G/\Gamma_ i)\sum_{\pi \in S}m(\pi,\Gamma_ i)=\mu(S). \] This was proved in [DW] in the case when G has \({\mathbb{R}}\)-rank one or, for general G, if \(S=\{\pi\}\) and \(\pi\) is a discrete series. The main results of the present paper are: (a) a proof of the limit formula (1) in general and (b) an asymptotic formula for the multiplicities of the principal series in the case when G has one conjugacy class of Cartan subgroups. This formula (conjectured by Gel'fand) was proved by \textit{J. J. Duistermaat}, \textit{J. A. C. Kolk} and \textit{V. S. Varadarajan} [[DKV], Invent. Math. 52, 27-93 (1979; Zbl 0434.58019)] in the case of the spherical principal series, under no restriction on G. The methods in the proof of (a) and (b) are similar to those in [DW] and [DKV] but contain new ingredients. In (a) the Selberg trace formula is applied to a suitably constructed function in \(C^ p(G)\) (the p-Schwartz space), for all \(p>0\). For the (elaborate) construction an invariant Paley-Wiener theorem is used [see \textit{L. Clozel} and the author, Invent. Math. 77, 427-453 (1984; Zbl 0584.22005)].