The proposed research lies at the interface of number theory with algebra, geometry, analysis and mathematical physics. Motivated by fundamental conjectures, we propose to develop powerful new tools to investigate automorphic forms on higher rank groups in order to approach some of the deepest open problems in the field.
Automorphic forms are highly symmetric functions on Lie groups that constitute one of the most important concepts in modern mathematics. They are key to number theory, e.g., understanding polynomial equations with integer coefficients, and lie at the centre of many of the most important problems in the subject. For instance, Sir Andrew Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem in 1995 relied on a deep connection between modular forms (an example of automorphic forms) and elliptic curves. Together with their associated L-functions, automorphic forms are also central objects in the Langlands programme - a vast web of theorems and conjectures connecting algebra, geometry, number theory, and analysis - which is one of the most active areas of mathematical research today. Additionally, two of the seven Clay "million dollar" Millennium Prize Problems lie in the area of automorphic L-functions. Automorphic forms also have connections to several areas of mathematical physics, such as quantum chaos, string theory, and quantum field theory.
Over the last century, there has been considerable progress in our detailed understanding of modular forms and Maass forms, which are the two types of automorphic forms on the (rank 1) group GL(2). However, progress in the higher rank cases has been much more limited. Indeed, the analytic aspects of automorphic forms on higher-rank groups has come into focus only in the last few years, with progress largely limited to special cases such as GL(3). In higher rank settings, existing methods and paradigms break down requiring the development of new ideas and innovations.
This project sets out to make far-reaching breakthroughs relating to the circle of ideas around Fourier coefficients of automorphic forms, period formulas, L-functions, and arithmetic to resolve some of the most important and substantial problems in the field. In a significant departure from existing work in this field, we will approach these problems simultaneously from the analytic, algebraic, and arithmetic directions. This project unifies these research areas at the level of results (new "master theorems" that bring several previous results under one umbrella), methods (by combining distinct methodological frameworks), and fields (we will bring together different fields of mathematics which have seen relatively little interaction). This will allow us to make advances that were previously inaccessible.
Ultimately, this research will provide a new bridge between the Langlands programme and several topics in number theory, geometry, algebra, analysis, and mathematical physics. Moreover, it will resolve some of the most substantial problems in the field in higher rank settings such as the distribution of generalised Fourier coefficients, Quantum Unique Ergodicity, the sup-norm problem, subconvexity, moments of families of L-functions, and Deligne's conjecture on critical values of L-functions, as well as open up numerous avenues for further exploration.
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