On congruence \(L\)-series (Q2548630)

From the introduction: \textit{S. Lang} [Bull. Soc. Math. Fr. 84, 385--407 (1956; Zbl 0089.26301)] has defined the congruence \(L\)-series \(L(u,\chi,U| V)\) for a Galois covering \(f: U\to V\) of an algebraic variety \(V\) defined over a finite field with \(q\) elements, associated with simple characters \(\chi\) of the Galois group. Expressing their logarithmic derivatives as follows: \[ \frac{d}{du} \log L(u,\chi,U| V) = \sum_{\mu=1}^\infty c_\mu(\chi) u^{\mu-1},\tag{*} \] Lang proved that the coefficients \(c_\mu(\chi)\) satisfy some inequalities and explained the behavior of \(L(u,\chi,\U| V)\) in the disk \(| u|<q^{-(r-1/2)}\), where \(r\) is the dimension of \(V\) (also of \(U\)). Moreover he gave a conjecture concerning the zeros of \(L(u,\chi,U/V)\) on the circle \(| u| = q^{-(r-1/2)}\). In the present paper, we prove that this conjecture holds under some assumption. We first give another definition of \(L(u,\chi,\U| V)\). It can be shown that our definition is equivalent to Lang's, in the case where \(f: U\to V\) is unramified and \(U\) is non-singular, after some cumbersome but not difficult calculations. Both definitions are not equivalent in general; but the \(L\)-series which we define will have the same behavior as Lang's \(L\)-series in the disk \(| u|<q^{-(r-1)}\) in all cases, as will be shown by the birational nature of the Corollary of Theorem 1 below. Our definition of \(L\)-series will be given by the formulas (*) and \[ c_\mu(\chi) = \frac1n \sum \chi(T_\sigma) N_\mu(U,T_\sigma) \] where \(N_\mu(U,T_\sigma)\) is the number of certain points on \(U\), defined at the beginning of \S\,1. Theorem 1 concerns a fundamental inequality on \(N_\mu(U,T_\sigma)\), which has important consequences on \(c_\mu(\chi)\), as will be given as Corollary. In \S\,2, we shall show that the analogue of the ``trace formula'' for \(N_\mu(U,T_\sigma)\) and the conjecture of Lang explained above follow from a certain assumption. If the covering is trivial, i.e. \(U=V\), then our result is already obtained in an article of \textit{Y. Taniyama} [Sci. Pap. Coll. Gen. Educ. Univ. Tokyo 8, 123--137 (1958; Zbl 0090.25703)] under a weaker assumption than ours [see the author, Proc. Japan Acad. 34, 395--399 (1958: Zbl 0118.15804)].