Triviality of the Hecke action on ordinary Drinfeld cuspforms of level \(\Gamma_1(t^n)\) (Q2093202)

Let \(K=\mathbb{F}_q(t)\) and \(A=\mathbb{F}_q[t]\), where \(q\) is a power of a prime \(p\in\mathbb{Z}\). For any ideal \(\mathfrak{n}\) of \(A\), let \[ \Gamma_1(\mathfrak{n}):=\left\{\gamma\in \text{SL}_2(A): \gamma \equiv \begin{pmatrix} 1 & * \\ 0 & 1 \end{pmatrix} \pmod{\mathfrak{n}} \right\} \] and let \(S_k(\mathfrak{n})\) (resp. \(S_k^2(\mathfrak{n})\)) be the \(\mathbb{C}_\infty\)-vector space of Drinfeld cuspforms (resp. double cuspforms) of level \(\Gamma_1(\mathfrak{n})\) (where \(\mathbb{C}_\infty\) is the completion of an algebraic closure of \(\mathbb{F}_q\left(\!\left(\frac{1}{t}\right)\!\right)\)). Those spaces are endowed with the action of Hecke operators (and some diamond operators commuting with them) \(T_{\mathfrak{m}}\) and \(U_{\mathfrak{r}}\) for all prime ideals \(\mathfrak{m} \nmid \mathfrak{n}\) and \(\mathfrak{r}|\mathfrak{n}\). This action (in particular its eigenvalues and eigenforms) is crucial in every attempt to study a function field counterpart for Hida theory, and the paper deals with the case \(\mathfrak{n}=(t^n)\) for all \(n\geqslant 1\)). The author provides a system of representatives for \(\Gamma_1(t^n)\backslash \Gamma_1(t)\) and, via those, a way to describe cusps of level \(\Gamma_1(t^n)\) which gives explicit formulas for the Hecke action on them. The main consequence is an equivalence between the bound \(\dim_{\mathbb{C}_\infty}(S_2^{\mathrm{ord}}(t^n))\leqslant q^n-1\) (where the ordinary cusps are those whose eigenvalues are \(t\)-adic units) and the nilpotency of the action of \(U_{(t)}\) on \(S^2_2(t^n)\). The nilpotency of \(U_{(t)}\) yields the main result of the paper, which is the triviality of the action of all Hecke operators on \(S_k^{\mathrm{ord}}(t^n)\) (and also the equality \(\dim_{\mathbb{C}_\infty}(S_2^{\mathrm{ord}}(t^n))= q^n-1\)). The author is able to prove nilpotency by studying the structure of the \(\mathbb{C}_\infty[\Theta_n] := \mathbb{C}_\infty[1+tA/(t^n)]\)-module \(S_2(t^n)\) via the isomorphism with harmonic cocycles proved in \textit{J. Teitelbaum} [J. Am. Math. Soc. 4, No. 3, 491--511 (1991; Zbl 0735.11025)]. It turns out that \(S_2(t^n)\) is free of rank \(q^n-1\) over \(\mathbb{C}_\infty[\Theta_n]\) and, taking its \(\Theta_n\)-stable subspaces, one obtains the bound on \(\dim_{\mathbb{C}_\infty}(S_2^{\mathrm{ord}}(t^n))\) mentioned above, i.e., the required nilpotency of \(U_{(t)}\).