Moment \(L\)-functions, partial \(L\)-functions and partial exponential sums (Q1423613)

Let \(\mathbb F_q\) be a finite field of characteristic \(p>0\) with \(q\) elements. Let \(f_0:X_0\to Y_0\) be an \(\mathbb F_q\)-morphism of separated schemes over \(\mathbb F_q\) of finite type. For any \(d,k>0\), let \(N_(f_0,d)= \sum_{y\in Y_0(\mathbb F_{q^k})} \#f_0^{-1}(y) (\mathbb F_{q^{kd}})\) and call it the \(d\)th moment of the morphism \(f_0\otimes\mathbb F_{q^k}\). The \(d\)th moment zeta-function of \(f_0\) is defined to be the formal power series \[ \mathbb Z(f_0,d,t)= \exp\biggl(\sum_{k\geq 1} N_k(f_0,d)t^k/k\biggr). \] More generally, for any constructible \(\overline{\mathbb Q}_\ell\)-sheaf \({\mathcal F}_0\) on \(X_0\), the authors define the \(d\)th moment \(L\)-function to be \[ L(f_0,{\mathcal F}_0,d,t)= \exp\biggl(\sum_{k\geq 1} S_k(f_0,{\mathcal F}_0,d)t^k/k\biggr), \] where \(S_k(f_0,{\mathcal F}_0,d)= \sum_{x\in Y_0(\mathbb F_{q^{kd}}),f_0(x)\in Y_0(\mathbb F_{q^k})} \text{Tr}(F_X^{kd},{\mathcal F}_{\overline{x}}),\) \(F_X\) the geometric Frobenius map. In this paper the authors prove that the moment \(L\)-function is a rational function whose total degree is bounded by a polynomial in \(d\). Furthermore, they define the partial \(L\)-function which generalizes moment \(L\)-functions to the situation where more than one morphisms are involved, and prove the rationality of the function.