The wave kernel for the Laplacian on the classical locally symmetric spaces of rank one, theta functions, trace formulas and the Selberg zeta function. With an appendix by Andreas Juhl (Q1891456)

Let \(X = G/K\) be a classical symmetric space of negative curvature and let \(\Gamma \subset G\) be a discrete, torsion-free, cocompact subgroup. Set \(M = \Gamma\setminus X\) and let \(X_d\) denote the simply connected compact symmetric dual of \(X\). In the present paper the authors relate the wave kernels on \(X_d\) and \(X\) and use their explicit form to study the meromorphic continuation of the Selberg zeta functions and of the theta function on \(M\). The small time wave kernels for \(X\) and \(X_d\) correspond to each other by analytic continuation on time and space and the local trace of the wave kernel for small time determines the local trace for all times uniquely. The authors obtain the functional equations for both the theta function and the logarithmic derivative of the zeta function and prove that the residues at the poles are integers. They also give some representation theoretical consequences of their results, in particular they obtain the spherical Plancherel density for \(G\). The paper includes an interesting appendix by A. Juhl where he describes a way to prove many of the results in this paper and some generalizations by an approach via hyperbolic dynamics and index theory. In particular he gives a common cohomological interpretation to all the singularities of the zeta function [see \textit{A. Juhl}, Zeta-Funktionen (Habilitationsschrift, Berlin 1993) and On the functional equations of dynamical theta functions. I].