The non-vanishing of certain Hecke \(L\)-functions at the center of the critical strip (Q1139632)

The following statement is established (apart from at most a finite number of exceptions) for a certain infinite family of Hecke \(L\)-functions of imaginary quadratic fields: An \(L\)-function in the family vanishes at the center of the critical strip only when its functional equation forces it to vanish. Application of a theorem of Arthaud then gives finiteness of the Mordell-Weil groups of certain elliptic curves with complex multiplication as a corollary. The following correction should be made in remark (3), p. 231: Replace the words ``\(r\) and \(u\) are as before'' by ``\(r\) is as before and \(u=2^{1-r} \sqrt{N/D}\)''. For related results, see the author [``Galois conjugacy of unramified twists of Hecke characters'', Duke Math. J. 47, 695--703 (1980; Zbl 0446.12011)] and [``On the \(L\)-functions of canonical Hecke characters of imaginary quadratic fields'', Duke Math. J. 47, 547--557 (1980; Zbl 0446.12010)].