Classification and base change for discrete series of \(p\)-adic unitary groups (Q953023)

\noindent One main aim of this paper is to prove a generalization of Arthur's local induction hypothesis for certain twists of linear groups. Let \(E/F\) be a quadratic extension of local fields. Look at the outer automorphism \(\theta\) of \(GL_n(E)\) which maps any element \(g\) to \(J ^t \bar{g}^{-1}J^{-1}\) where \(J\) is the antidiagonal matrix with the \(i\)-th entry \((-1)^{i-1}\). Then, a tempered representation of \(GL_n(E)\) is said to be \(\theta\)-discrete if its conjugacy class is invariant by the \(\theta\)-action and is not induced from a \(\theta\)-invariant representation of a proper \(\theta\)-stable parabolic subgroup. Consider the semi-direct product of \(\{1, \theta \} \propto GL_n(E)\) and its nontrivial coset \(\tilde{G}_n\). The author proves that any extension to this semi-direct product of a \(\theta\)-discrete representation of \(GL_n(E)\) arises as the base change of a packet of representations of a unique endoscopic subgroup. Moreover, these endoscopic groups are necessarily of the form \(U(n_1,E/F) \times U(n-n_1,E/F)\). This enables her to define a set of discrete series representations of \(U(n,E/F)\) to be a stable packet if some linear combination of its characters base changes to a \(\theta\)-discrete irreducible representation of \(GL_n(E)\). Further, she shows that the discrete series of \(U(n,E/F)\) is a disjoint union of stable packets and computes the number of elements in each packet. In this manner, she also classifies the supercuspidal representations of \(U(n,E/F)\) in terms of their Langlands parameters.