Large degree covers and sharp resonances of hyperbolic surfaces (Q2188221)

The article deals with spectral properties of the positive Laplacian \(\Delta_{X}\) on a hyperbolic space \(X:=\Gamma\backslash\mathbb{H}^{2}\) whose geometry is non-compact. Here \(\Gamma \) is a geometrically finite discrete subgroup of \(PSL_{2}(R)\) and \(\mathbb{H}^{2}\) is the hyperbolic plane endowed with its metric of constant curvature \(-1\). The \(L_{2}\)-spectrum of the Laplacian is mostly continuous and the natural replacement data for the missing eigenvalues are provided by resonances which arise from a meromorphic continuation of the resolvent \(R(s):=(\Delta_{X}-s(1-s))^{-1}:L_{2}(X)\rightarrow L_{2}(X),s\in \mathbb{C},\) of the Laplacian \(\Delta_{X}\). The quotient space \(X=\Gamma\backslash\mathbb{H}^{2}\) is a Riemann surface (called convex co-compact) whose ends geometry is well known. The surface \(X\) can be decomposed into a compact surface \(N\) with boundary, called the Nielsen region, on which two types of ends are glued: funnels and cusps. The spectrum of \(X\) on \(L_{2}(X)\) has been fully described by \textit{P. D. Lax} and \textit{R. S. Phillips} [Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 37, 303--328 (1984; Zbl 0544.10024)] and \textit{S. J. Patterson} [Acta Math. 136, 241--273 (1976; Zbl 0336.30005)]. The resolvent \(R(s)\) is a holomorphic family of operators for \(\Re(s)>1/2,\) except at a finite number of possible poles related to the eigenvalues. The sharp resonances are those for which \(\Re(s)\) is the closest to the unitary axis \(\Re(s)=1.\) It was conjectured by \textit{D. Jakobson} and \textit{F. Naud} [Geom. Funct. Anal. 22, No. 2, 352--368 (2012; Zbl 1284.30035)] that for all \(\varepsilon >0 \) there are infinitely many resonances in the strip \(\{\Re(s)>\delta /2-\varepsilon \},\) \(\delta =\delta (\Gamma )\) being the Hausdorff dimension. However, the above result is a typical high frequency statement and does not provide estimates on the imaginary parts (the frequencies). Indeed, it is a notoriously hard problem to locate precisely non-trivial resonances. In the present work the authors obtain a different type of existence result by looking at families of covers of a given surface, in the large degree regime. The main task of the paper consists in producing new resonances, which become large and visible when subject to the algebraic nature of a suitably constructed Galois group \(G\) (or covering group) which affects their location. The authors obtain an \(L\)-function factorization -- very similar to the factorization of Dedekind zeta functions -- as a product of Artin \(L\)-functions. In the finite area case, following the work of \textit{A. Selberg} [Collected papers. Volume I. Reprint of the 1989 original. Berlin: Springer (2014; Zbl 1295.11002)], this type of factorization was considered by \textit{A. B. Venkov} and \textit{P. G. Zograf}, Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Ser. Mat. 46, 1150--1158 (1982; Zbl 0514.10023)]. In the context of hyperbolic surfaces with infinite volume, although not surprising, the obtained factorization statement is new and interesting because of various applications.