Conductors and newforms for \(U(1,1)\) (Q1766197)

Let \(F\) be a non-archimedean local field with residue characteristic \(\neq 2\) and let \(E\) be the unramified quadratic extension of \(F\). Let \(G\) be the quasi-split unitary group \(\text{U}(2)\) corresponding to \(E/F\). For any irreducible representation \(\pi\) of \(G(F)\) the authors define a conductor and spaces of newforms. Newforms are eigenvectors of \(\pi(\Gamma_0(m))\), where \(\Gamma_0(m)\) is a congruence subgroup and \(m\) is the conductor of \(\pi\). Raising the level \(m\) gives an increasing sequence of spaces, whose dimensions are computed in the paper. The conductor is compared with other invariants. The newforms are test vectors for Whittaker functionals. They are not unique in general (unlike newforms on \(\text{GL}(2,F)\)). In another paper, which has not yet been published, the authors treat the same questions for \(\text{SL}(2,F)\). The results of that paper are copied in this paper and used to derive the results for \(G = \text{U}(2)\). Notice that \(G(F)\) has \(Z.\text{SL}(2,F)\) as a subgroup of index 2, where \(Z\) is the center of \(G(F)\).