Quantum unique ergodicity for \(\text{SL}_2 (\mathcal O)\backslash\mathbb{H}^3\) and estimates for \(L\)-functions (Q5954640)

The point of the paper under review is to show that the mass of the continuous spectrum of the hyperbolic Laplacian on arithmetic hyperbolic three manifolds becomes equidistributed in the large energy limit. The proof is based on estimates for the \(\text{GL}_2\) automorphic \(L\)-functions associated with imaginary quadratic number fields. The method is carried out for the special case of the Picard group \(\Gamma= \text{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z}[i])\) acting on the hyperbolic three space \(\mathbb{H}^3\). Let \(E(w,s)\) be the Eisenstein series for \(\Gamma\) (suitably parametrized such that \(\Re s= \frac 12\) becomes the critical line), and denote by \(\mu_t\) the measure on \(\mathbb{H}^3\) with density \(|E(w,\frac 12+it)|^2\) with respect to the hyperbolic volume measure vol. Then the main result on quantum ergodicity states: For \(K,L\) compact Jordan measurable subsets of \(\Gamma\setminus \mathbb{H}^3\) of positive measure we have \[ \lim_{t\to\infty} \frac{\mu_t(K)}{\mu_t(L)}= \frac{\text{vol}(K)} {\text{vol}(L)}. \] The proof is based on quite technical estimates of \(L(\frac 12+it, \varphi\otimes \lambda^m)\) (\(\varphi\) a cusp form, \(\lambda\) the basic Grössencharacter on ideals of \(\mathbb{Z}[i]\)). These estimates invoke the strongest available bounds towards the Ramanujan conjectures in this case. Reviewer's remark: The quantum ergodicity result of the present paper has been extended to all imaginary quadratic number fields of class number one by \textit{S. Koyama} [Commun. Math. Phys. 215, 477-486 (2000; Zbl 0982.11030)].