An introduction to Eisenstein measures

DOI10.5802/JTNB.1178MaRDI QIDQ2073993zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Publication date 3 February 2022

Published in Journal de Théorie des Nombres de Bordeaux (Search for Journal in Brave)

Copyright license Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 4.0 International

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.01879

\(p\)-adic \(L\)-functions \(p\)-adic families of modular forms \(p\)-adic measures \(p\)-adic modular forms Eisenstein measures

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Modular and automorphic functions (11F03) Fourier coefficients of automorphic forms (11F30) Congruences for modular and (p)-adic modular forms (11F33) (p)-adic theory, local fields (11F85) Iwasawa theory (11R23) Zeta functions and (L)-functions (11S40)

Abstract: This paper provides an introduction to Eisenstein measures, a powerful tool for constructing certain

p

-adic

L

-functions. First seen in Serre's realization of

p

-adic Dedekind zeta functions associated to totally real fields, Eisenstein measures provide a way to extend the style of congruences Kummer observed for values of the Riemann zeta function (so-called {em Kummer congruences}) to certain other

L

-functions. In addition to tracing key developments, we discuss some challenges that arise in more general settings, concluding with some that remain open.

Review text

In an effort to prove Fermat's Last Theorem for exponents divisible by a prime number \(p\), Kummer proved that if \(k\) and \(k'\) are positive even integers not divisible by \(p-1\), then for all positive integers \(d\), \[ (1-p^{k-1})\zeta(1-k)\equiv(1-p^{k'-1})\zeta(1-k')\bmod p^{d}, \] where \(k\equiv k'\bmod\phi(p^{d})\), with \(\phi\) denoting Euler's totient function [\textit{E. E. Kummer}, J. Reine Angew. Math. 41, 368--372 (1851; ERAM 041.1136cj)]. As part of his investigations, Kummer had shown that the regularity is equivalent to a condition on the values of the Riemann zeta function. A prime \(p\) is regular if does not divide the class number of the cyclotomic field \(\mathbb Q(\zeta_{p})\) with \(\zeta_{p}\in C^\times\) a primitive \(p\)-th root of unity. Even though Hensel introduced the \(p\)-adic numbers soon after Kummer's death, Kummer's discovery topic was nearly dormant for a century [\textit{K. Hensel}, J. Reine Angew. Math. 128, 1--32 (1904; JFM 35.0227.01)]. The first formulation of a \(p\)-adic zeta function occurred only in the 1960s, as a result of work of \textit{T. Kubota} and \textit{H. W. Leopoldt} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 214/215, 328--339 (1964; Zbl 0186.09103)]. In the 1960s, Iwasawa linked the behavior of Galois modules over towers of cyclotomic fields to \(p\)-adic zeta-functions, forming the foundations of Iwasawa theory, a \(p\)-adic theory for studying families of arithmetic data [\textit{K. Iwasawa}, Ann. Math. (2) 89, 198--205 (1969; Zbl 0186.09201)]. The main conjecture of Iwasawa theory, proved in [\textit{B. Mazur} and \textit{A. Wiles}, Invent. Math. 76, 179--330 (1984; Zbl 0545.12005)] shows that the \(p\)-adic \(L\)-function controls substantial structural information about the collection of class groups. The author of the paper under review presents two questions: Question 1. Given an \(L\)-function whose values at certain points are known to be algebraic, how might we construct a \(p\)-adic \(L\)-function encoding congruences between values of version of that \(L\)-function? Question 2. How might we construct \(p\)-adic families of Eisenstein series or, more specifically, \(p\)-adic Eisenstein measures? As the author of the paper under review says in the paper ``The main goal of this paper is to introduce particular tools, Eisenstein measures, which have proved to be especially useful for constructing \(p\)-adic \(L\)-functions during the past half-century, at least under certain conditions. His motivation is the work of Jean Piere Serre who produced the first \(p\)-adic families of Eisenstein series (the first instances of Eisenstein measures, which arose as part of his development of the theory of \(p\)-adic modular forms) and used them (together with Iwasawa's construction of the \(p\)-adic zeta function as an element of an Iwasawa algebra) to construct \(p\)-adic Dedekind zeta functions associated to totally real number fields [\textit{J.-P. Serre}, Lect. Notes Math. 350, 191--268 (1973; Zbl 0277.12014)]. The paper is very well written and is an excellent work. It is very good source for interested researchers in the field.

Recommendations

Cites work

Cited in

(7)

This page was built for publication: An introduction to Eisenstein measures

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q2073993)