Zeta functions of complexes arising from \(\mathrm{PGL}(3)\) (Q2445886)

This paper obtains a closed form expression of the zeta function \(Z(X_\Gamma, u)\) of a finite quotient \(X_\Gamma\) of the Bruhat-Tits building of PGL(3) over a non-Archimedean local field \(F\) by a discrete cocompact torsion-free subgroup \(\Gamma\) of PGL(3). In analogy with the case of a graph zeta function, \(Z(X_\Gamma, u)\) is a rational function with two different expressions, and it satisfies the Riemann hypothesis if and only if \(X_\Gamma\) is a Ramanujan complex. The zeta function of a finite, connected, undirected graph \(X\) was introduced by Ihara for groups, then by Serre for regular graphs. It is defined analogously to the zeta function of a curve over a finite field, and it is likewise a rational function. The setup of trees has a higher dimensional extension to the Bruhat-Tits building \(B_n\) associated to \(\mathrm{PGL}(n,F)\). As in the case of graphs, one obtains finite complexes \(X_\Gamma\) by taking quotients of \(B_n\) by torsion-free discrete cocompact subgroups \(\Gamma\) of \(\mathrm{PGL}(n,F)\). Ramanujan complexes were constructed by Lubotzky and others, using deep results on the Ramanujan conjecture over function fields for automorphic representations of the multiplicative group of a division algebra by Laumon, Rapoport and Stuhler, and of GL(\(n\)) by Lafforgue. To extend zeta functions from graphs to complexes, one seeks a similarly defined zeta function counting closed geodesic tailless cycles in \(X_\Gamma\) with various properties. The purpose of this paper is to present zeta functions with such properties for 2-dimensional complexes which are finite quotients of \(B_3\).