Arthur–Selberg trace formula

In mathematics, the Arthur–Selberg trace formula is a generalization of the Selberg trace formula from the group SL₂ to arbitrary reductive groups over global fields, developed by James Arthur in a long series of papers from 1974 to 2003. It describes the character of the representation of G(A) on the discrete part L2
0(G(F)∖G(A)) of L²(G(F)∖G(A)) in terms of geometric data, where G is a reductive algebraic group defined over a global field F and A is the ring of adeles of F.

There are several different versions of the trace formula. The first version was the unrefined trace formula, whose terms depend on truncation operators and have the disadvantage that they are not invariant. Arthur later found the invariant trace formula and the stable trace formula which are more suitable for applications. The simple trace formula (Flicker & Kazhdan 1988) is less general but easier to prove. The local trace formula is an analogue over local fields. Jacquet's relative trace formula is a generalization where one integrates the kernel function over non-diagonal subgroups.

In the (rare) case when G(F)∖G(A) is compact the representation splits as a direct sum of irreducible representations, and the trace formula is similar to the Frobenius formula for the character of the representation induced from the trivial representation of a subgroup of finite index.

In the compact case, which is essentially due to Selberg, the groups G(F) and G(A) can be replaced by any discrete subgroup Γof a locally compact group G with Γ\G compact. The group G acts on the space of functions on Γ∖G by the right regular representation R, and this extends to an action of the group ring of G, considered as the ring of functions f on G. The character of this representation is given by a generalization of the Frobenius formula as follows. The action of a function f on a function φ on Γ∖G is given by

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