Manin-Drinfeld cycles and derivatives of \(L\)-functions (Q6582318)

This well-written paper studies algebraic cycles in the moduli space of \(\mathrm{PGL}(2)\)-shtukas, arising from the diagonal torus. The main result shows that their intersection pairing with the Heegner-Drinfeld cycle is the product of the \(r\)-th central derivative of an automorphic \(L\)-function \(L(\pi,s)\) and Waldspurger's toric period integral. When \(L(\pi,1/2)\not=0\) this gives a new geometric interpretation for the Taylor series expansion. When \(L(\pi,1/2)=0\), the pairing vanishes, suggesting higher order analogues of the vanishing of cusps in the modular Jacobian, as well as other new phenomena. The proof sheds new light on the algebraic correspondence introduced by \textit{Z. Yun} and \textit{W. Zhang} [Ann. Math. (2) 186, No. 3, 767--911 (2017; Zbl 1385.11032); ibid. 189, No. 2, 393--526 (2019; Zbl 1442.11079)], which is the geometric incarnation of ``differentiating the \(L\)-function''. It is realized as the Lie algebra action of \(e+f\in \mathfrak{sl}_2\) on \((\mathbb{Q}_\ell^2)^{\otimes 2d}\). The comparison of relative trace formulae needed to prove the formula is then a consequence of Schur-Weyl duality.