Algebraic Cycles and Even Unimodular Lattices (Q4399271)

It is known that when \(n \geq 1\) and \(q = p^{f}\), \(p\) a prime number and \(f \geq 1\) an integer, the finite unitary group \(G = U_{n+2}(q)\) has an irreducible unipotent complex character say \(\zeta\) of degree \((q^{n+2}+q(-1)^{n})/(q+1)\); this character is an example of the so-called Weil characters of \(G\). The Schur index of \(\zeta\) over \(\mathbb Q\) is \(1\) if \(n\) is even and \(2\) if \(n\) is odd. Thus when \(n\) is odd there is an irreducible \({\mathbb Q}G\)-module \(V\) with character \(2\zeta\). \(V\) supports an essentially unique \(G\)-invariant scalar product which is necessarily positive definite, and now one can consider \(G\)-invariant Euclidean lattices \(\Lambda\) inside \(V\). The case \(n = 1\) has been considered by \textit{B. H. Gross} [Group representations and lattices, J. Am. Math. Soc. 3, 929-960 (1990; Zbl 0745.11035)]. In particular, he showed that when \(f \leq 2\) the lattices \(\Lambda\) are globally irreducible. For any \(q\), \(\Lambda\) have been constructed by N. Elkies as certain Mordell-Weil lattices arising from Fermat curves of degree \(q+1\) over \({\mathbb{F}}_{q^{2}}\). The aim of this paper is to generalize these results to arbitrary odd \(n\). The author constructs \(\Lambda\) as sublattices of the groups of primitive codimension \((n+1)/2\) algebraic cycles on \(X_{n} \times E\), where \(X_{n}\) is the \(n\)-dimensional projective hypersurface with the equation \(x_{0}^{q+1} + x_{1}^{q+1} + \ldots + x_{n+1}^{q+1} = 0\) over \({\mathbb{F}}_{q^{2}}\), and \(E\) is a suitably chosen elliptic curve. Furthermore, he shows that \(\Lambda\) can be constructed to be even unimodular if \(f\) is even, and of determinant \(p^{\text{rank }\Lambda/2}\) if \(f\) is odd. However, if \(n > 1\) or if \(f > 2\) then they cannot be globally irreducible except in the cases \((n,q) = (3,2)\), \((3,3)\), \((5,2)\), as shown by the reviewer in [Weil representations as globally irreducible representations, Math. Nachr. 184, 313-327 (1997; Zbl 0870.20007)]. The author raises questions about a good lower bound for \(\min(\Lambda)\) and about \(G\)-lattices affording the character \(\zeta\) when \(n\) is even. These questions have been answered in a joint paper of him and the reviewer [Lower bounds for the minima of certain symplectic and unitary group lattices, Am. J. Math. 121, 889-918 (1999)].