Lefschetz numbers of symplectic involutions on arithmetic groups (Q473109)

Let \(G\) be a semisimple linear algebraic group defined over a number field \(F\). Lefschetz numbers of automorphisms of finite order of \(G\) are important invariants of the cohomology of arithmetic subgroups of \(G\). They were first studied by \textit{G. Harder} [in: Lie Groups Represent., Proc. Summer Sch. Bolyai Janos math. Soc., Budapest 1971, 139--150 (1975; Zbl 0395.57028)], and a general method was developed by \textit{J. Rohlfs} [Invent. Math. 48, 185--205 (1978; Zbl 0391.14007); in: Cohomology of arithmetic groups and automorphic forms, Proc. Conf., Luminy/Fr. 1989, Lect. Notes Math. 1447, 303--313 (1990; Zbl 0762.11023)]. The main result of this paper is a formula for the Lefschetz number of the automorphism, obtained from an involution of the symplectic type on \(G\) composed with taking inverse on \(G\), for the cohomology of torsion-free principal congruence subgroups of inner forms of the special linear group with respect to a rational representation of \(G\) in a finite-dimensional complex vector space. The proof is based on the Rohlfs' method. Note that a central simple \(F\)-algebra which allows an involution of symplectic type is necessarily isomorphic to a matrix algebra \(M_n(D)\), where \(D\) is a quaternion algebra over \(F\). Hence, the group \(G\) considered in this paper is isomorphic to the reduced norm-one group \(\mathrm{SL}_n(D)\) with \(D\) a quaternion algebra. The author mentions three applications of the formula for Lefschetz numbers. In all applications \(F\) is totally real. First, the formula yields an asymptotic lower bound for the growth of total Betti numbers for certain congruence subgroups in \(\mathrm{SL}_n(D)\), as \(n\) grows to infinity, complementing recent upper bounds by \textit{F. Calegari} and \textit{M. Emerton} [Ann. Math. (2) 170, No. 3, 1437--1446 (2009; Zbl 1195.22015)]. Second, it gives a new proof of the fact that the values \(\zeta_F(1-2m)\) of the Dedekind zeta function of \(F\) are non-zero rational numbers for all integers \(m\geq 1\). Third, taking \(G\) to be the norm-one subgroup of a quaternion division algebra \(D\) over \(F\) such that \(D\) is split at only one real place of \(F\), the formula for Lefschetz numbers implies a formula for the genus of the compact Riemann surface \(\mathfrak{h}\slash\Gamma\), where \(\mathfrak{h}\) is the Poincaré upper half-plane and \(\Gamma\) a torsion-free congruence subgroup which is a co-compact Fuchsian group.