Local root numbers and spectrum of the local descents for orthogonal groups: \(p\)-adic case (Q1993991)

In this paper, the authors consider a special case of the restriction problem; i.e., the description of the following situation: for a given irreducible representation of a larger group, what can be said when this representation is restricted to a subgroup. The authors are concerned with the orthogonal groups over a \(p\)-adic field \(F\) of characteristic zero, and representations are irreducible and smooth (and complex); more precisely, the result will be expressed for an irreducible representation with a generic Langlands parameter, and the subgroup involved is also an orthogonal group introduced via Bessel models. Thus, this work follows the line of the Gan-Gross-Prasad conjecture, but it gives more information, i.e., is a refinement of GGP conjecture in this case. In more detail, for a given orthogonal group, (which is explicitly given with the aid of a basis of the corresponding quadratic space), \(F\)-stable nilpotent orbits, and in them, \(F\)-rational orbits, are explicitly given through unipotent radicals of certain parabolic subgroups. These subgroups have a Levi subgroup isomorphic to the product of \(l\) copies of \(\mathrm{GL}_1\) with the orthogonal group of smaller rank. Now, a generic character of this unipotent radical leads to the subgroup in question: namely, one examines the stabilizer of this character in the classical part of the Levi subgroup; this stabilizer is the smaller group in question. Then, given such a character and an irreducible smooth representation \(\pi\) of the large group, say, \(G\), one defines the twisted Jacquet module of Bessel type of \(\pi.\) This is naturally a smooth representation of the smaller group (``the descent of \(\pi\)''); and the authors want to examine when a certain irreducible representation of a smaller group appears as a quotient of the twisted Jacquet module of Bessel type of \(\pi,\) but in a certain instance: namely there is an integer \(l_0\) (nonnegative and smaller or equal to the \(F\)-rank of \(G\)) such that the aforementioned twisted Jacquet module of Bessel type of \(\pi\) is nonzero for this \(l_0\) and some related \(F\)-rational orbit, and for all \(l>l_0\) (and all the related \(F\)-rational orbits) is zero. It turns out, the authors prove, that the structure of the twisted Jacquet module of Bessel type of \(\pi\) at the first occurrence index is especially nice: it is a direct sum of square-integrable representations which belong to different Bernstein components. The authors define certain descend for the Langlands parameter \(\phi\) of \(\pi;\) this will be the sum of Langlands parameters for smaller rank orthogonal groups. They do that using certain conditions on the epsilon factors attached to these parameters (hence the title of the paper); all that in view of \textit{J.-L. Waldspurger}'s results in [Astérisque 347, 103--165 (2012; Zbl 1276.22010); ibid. 346, 171--312 (2012; Zbl 1290.22012)] about GGP. Then, again, using results of \textit{C. Moeglin} and \textit{J.-L. Waldspurger} [Stabilisation de la formule des traces tordue. Vol. 2. Basel: Birkhäuser/Springer (2016; Zbl 1381.11001)], which are valid for representations belonging to generic \(L\)-parameters, they prove that the non-zero descent of this \(L\)-parameter (defined in this way) leads to non-zero descent for representations, so that that those square-integrable representations appearing at the first occurrence index situation indeed have the \(L\)-parameters obtained by the descent of \(L\)-parameters. This explicitly calculates also the first occurrence index for \(\pi.\)