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# A geometric approach to Voiculescu-Brown entropy

## 1. Introduction

Entropy has been very successful in topological dynamics (as in measurable dynamics) as a numerical invariant measuring the complexity of a dynamical system (see, e.g., ). Topological entropy was introduced by Adler, Konheim, and McAndrew in  with a definition based on open covers. Equivalent definitions in terms of separated and spanning sets with respect to a metric were given by Bowen  and Dinaburg . Much more recently Voiculescu introduced a notion of entropy for automorphisms of unital nuclear $`C^{}`$-algebras based on local approximation , and Brown subsequently extended this to automorphisms of exact $`C^{}`$-algebras using nuclear embeddability . By \[39, Prop. 4.8\] the topological entropy of a homeomorphism of a compact metric space coincides with the Voiculescu-Brown entropy of the induced automorphism of the $`C^{}`$-algebra of functions on the space, and so Voiculescu-Brown entropy is an extension of topological entropy to the noncommutative domain (indeed Voiculescu and Brown refer to their invariants as “topological entropy,” but we have refrained from this terminology to avoid confusion). However, because Voiculescu’s idea of using local approximation constitutes a fundamentally reconceptualized approach to defining entropy (as necessitated by its analytic context, which does not allow for any kind of direct analogue of an open cover with which a genuine dynamical invariant may be obtained), Voiculescu-Brown entropy ultimately requires tools of a completely different formal and technical nature for its study.

To date this study has focused on three aspects: computations for canonical examples (see, e.g., ), behaviour under taking crossed products  and reduced free products , and the variational principle in the presence of a strategic amount of commutativity . See  for a survey. The methods for obtaining non-zero lower bounds in computations have been invariably rooted in classical considerations. Indeed they have involved either (i) relating the system to a topological dynamical system which is a priori known to have positive topological entropy, or (ii) appealing to measure-theoretic invariants like Connes-Narnhofer-Thirring or Sauvageot-Thouvenot entropy, which themselves use classical measurable partitions in their definitions. Thus the fundamental problem of identifying systems with positive entropy (i.e., systems which exhibit “chaotic” behaviour), in however specific or general a setting, has not been addressed from a broad noncommutative viewpoint, and so the phenomenon of positive entropy has remained a mystery beyond the scope of commutativity (and even there a considerable degree of mystery persists, as we do not have a “topological” proof of the equality of Voiculescu-Brown entropy and the topological entropy of the induced homeomorphism on the pure state space in the separable unital commutative case, which was established in \[39, Prop. 4.8\] using the classical variational principle and continuity properties of Connes-Narnhofer-Thirring entropy). As a consequence Voiculescu-Brown entropy has played a rather isolated role in $`C^{}`$-dynamics, in contrast to the pervasive presence of topological entropy in topological dynamics.

In fact the theory of $`C^{}`$-dynamical systems has been much more concerned with questions of $`C^{}`$-algebraic structure and classification than with the strict investigation of long-term behaviour that is at the heart of topological dynamics and for which entropy is a key tool. Symptomatic of the difficulties in analyzing the long-term behaviour of noncommutative systems is the typical lack of discrete data that can be workably assembled to yield a meaningful statement about some aspect of the dynamics. This is starkly illustrated by the collection of automorphisms of the rotation $`C^{}`$-algebras $`A_\theta `$ associated to a given matrix in $`SL(2,)`$ with eigenvalues off the unit circle: for a subset of $`\theta [0,1)`$ of full Lebesgue measure the canonical tracial state is the unique invariant state , while in the “degenerate” case $`\theta =0`$, in which we recover the corresponding hyperbolic toral automorphism on the pure state space, there is a rich supply of periodic points in terms of which much about the system can be expressed, including the entropic growth (see, e.g., ). We can also make a comparison here with the viewpoint of semiclassical analysis, which, as opposed to directly extending topological dynamics to incorporate the noncommutative case, extracts discrete spectral data from within the matrix framework associated to the values $`\theta =1/n`$ (“quantization”) and performs an asymptotic analysis thereupon, with the possibility of establishing a correspondence with classical information in the limit $`n\mathrm{}`$. See the introduction to  for a discussion and  for some recent results.

The purpose of this article is to introduce a geometric perspective that yields some insight into the mechanisms behind positive Voiculescu-Brown entropy. Our inspiration lies in the link between topological dynamics and the geometric theory of Banach spaces that was established by Glasner and Weiss in one of the two proofs they gave in  for the following striking result.

###### Theorem 1.1 (\[14, Thm. A\]).

If a homeomorphism from a compact metric space $`X`$ to itself has zero topological entropy, then so does the induced homeomorphism on the space of probability measures on $`X`$.

Since the Voiculescu-Brown entropy agrees with the topological entropy on the pure state space for automorphisms of separable unital commutative $`C^{}`$-algebras, Glasner and Weiss’s result is equivalent to the assertion that zero Voiculescu-Brown entropy for such an automorphism implies zero topological entropy for the induced homeomorphism on the state space. We have shown that this assertion in fact holds for automorphisms of any separable unital exact $`C^{}`$-algebra, and we can additionally drop the assumption of a unit by replacing the state space with the quasi-state space in the general exact setting (Theorem 4.2). Full details of this result can be found in . The key geometric tool is the asymptotic exponential dependence of $`k`$ on $`n`$ given an approximately isometric embedding of $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$ into the $`C^{}`$-algebra $`M_k`$ of $`k\times k`$ matrices. This geometric fact also has the consequence that the presence of a certain supply of dynamically generated subspaces approximately isometric to $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$ is sufficient to obtain positive Voiculescu-Brown entropy (Proposition 2.2). In particular we can show, without relying in any way on classical dynamical concepts, that certain $`C^{}`$-dynamical systems constructed in an operator-theoretic manner have positive entropy. We also obtain some information about the behaviour of Voiculescu-Brown entropy under taking extensions.

The main body of the paper consists of three sections. Sections 2 and 4 revolve around the results described above involving positive entropy and approximately isometric embeddings of $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$ into $`M_k`$ at the $`C^{}`$-algebra and state space levels, respectively, while in Section 3 we apply our geometric perspective in a complementary way with a look at the free shift on $`C_r^{}(𝔽_{\mathrm{}})`$ as an example of subexponential dynamical growth.

Acknowledgements. This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and was carried out during stays at the University of Tokyo and the University of Rome “La Sapienza” over the academic years 2001–2002 and 2002–2003, respectively. I thank Yasuyuki Kawahigashi at the University of Tokyo and Claudia Pinzari at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” for their generous hospitality. I would also like to thank the Canadian Mathematical Society for the opportunity to present this material at the Winter 2002 Meeting.

## 2. Entropy and embeddings of $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$ into $`M_k`$

We begin by recalling the definitions of topological entropy and Voiculescu-Brown entropy. Let $`X`$ be a compact metric space and $`T:XX`$ a homeomorphism. For a finite open cover $`𝒰`$ we set

$$h_{\mathrm{top}}(T,𝒰)=\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{1}{n}\mathrm{log}N(𝒰T^1𝒰\mathrm{}T^{(n1)}𝒰)$$

where $`N()`$ denotes the smallest cardinality of a subcover and the join $`𝒰_1\mathrm{}𝒰_m`$ of a finite collection $`𝒰_1,\mathrm{},𝒰_m`$ of open covers is the set of all non-empty intersections $`U_1\mathrm{}U_m`$ with $`U_i𝒰_i`$ for each $`i=1,\mathrm{},m`$. The topological entropy of $`T`$ is defined by

$$h_{\mathrm{top}}(T)=\underset{𝒰}{sup}h_{\mathrm{top}}(T,𝒰)$$

where the supremum is taken over all open covers $`𝒰`$. We can alternatively express the entropy in terms of separated and spanning sets. A set $`EX`$ is said to be $`(n,\epsilon )`$-separated (with respect to $`T`$) if for every $`x,yE`$ with $`xy`$ there is a $`0kn1`$ such that $`d(T^kx,T^ky)>\epsilon `$, and $`(n,\epsilon )`$-spanning (with respect to $`T`$) if for every $`xX`$ there is a $`yE`$ such that $`d(T^kx,T^ky)\epsilon `$ for each $`k=0,\mathrm{},n1`$. We write $`\mathrm{sep}_n(T,\epsilon )`$ and $`\mathrm{spn}_n(T,\epsilon )`$ to denote the largest cardinality of an $`(n,\epsilon )`$-separated set and the smallest cardinality of an $`(n,\epsilon )`$-spanning set, respectively. We then have

$$h_{\mathrm{top}}(T)=\underset{\epsilon >0}{sup}\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim\; sup}\frac{1}{n}\mathrm{log}\mathrm{sep}_n(T,\epsilon )=\underset{\epsilon >0}{sup}\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim\; sup}\frac{1}{n}\mathrm{log}\mathrm{spn}_n(T,\epsilon ).$$

The fundamental prototypical example is the shift on $`\{1,\mathrm{},d\}^{}`$, with entropy $`\mathrm{log}d`$. For general references on topological entropy see .

Turning now to the noncommutative domain, we let $`A`$ be an exact $`C^{}`$-algebra and $`\pi :A()`$ a faithful representation. By  exactness is equivalent to nuclear embeddability, and the latter guarantees, for every finite $`\mathrm{\Omega }A`$ and $`\delta >0`$, the non-emptiness of the collection $`\mathrm{CPA}(\pi ,\mathrm{\Omega },\delta )`$ of triples $`(\varphi ,\psi ,B)`$ where $`B`$ is a finite-dimensional $`C^{}`$-algebra and $`\varphi :AB`$ and $`\psi :B()`$ are completely positive contractive linear maps such that the diagram

approximately commutes to within $`\delta `$ on $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, i.e., $`(\psi \varphi )(x)\pi (x)<\delta `$ for all $`x\mathrm{\Omega }`$. As shown in the proof of \[5, Prop. 1.3\], the infimum of $`\mathrm{rank}B`$ over all $`(\varphi ,\psi ,B)\mathrm{CPA}(\pi ,\mathrm{\Omega },\delta )`$ (with rank referring to the dimension of a maximal commutative $`C^{}`$-subalgebra) does not depend on the particular faithful representation $`\pi `$; we denote this quantity by $`\mathrm{rcp}(\mathrm{\Omega },\delta )`$. We point out that the above $`C^{}`$-algebras $`B`$ may in fact be taken to be full matrix algebras, since a finite-dimensional $`C^{}`$-algebra $`B`$ can be embedded in the matrix algebra $`M_k`$ where $`k=\mathrm{rank}B`$, in which case the identity map on $`B`$ factors as the composition of the inclusion $`BM_k`$ with a conditional expectation $`M_kB`$. We also note that if $`A`$ is nuclear (in particular, if $`A`$ is commutative) we can alternatively define $`\mathrm{rcp}(\mathrm{\Omega },\delta )`$ by substituting the identity map on $`A`$ for $`\pi `$ in the above and taking the corresponding infimum. Furthermore, if $`A`$ is unital then in both this nuclear reformulation and the more general exact setting we will obtain the same value of entropy in the last line of the display below if we assume that the $`\varphi `$ and $`\psi `$ in our approximately commuting diagrams are unital completely positive maps, although $`\mathrm{rcp}(\mathrm{\Omega },\delta )`$ as we have defined it may not always be equal to its unital version (see ). For an automorphism $`\alpha `$ of $`A`$ we then set

$`ht(\alpha ,\mathrm{\Omega },\delta )`$ $`=\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim\; sup}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}\mathrm{log}\mathrm{rcp}(\mathrm{\Omega }\alpha \mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{}\alpha ^{n1}\mathrm{\Omega },\delta ),`$
$`ht(\alpha ,\mathrm{\Omega })`$ $`=\underset{\delta >0}{sup}ht(\alpha ,\mathrm{\Omega },\delta ),`$
$`ht(\alpha )`$ $`=\underset{\mathrm{\Omega }}{sup}ht(\alpha ,\mathrm{\Omega }),`$
with the last supremum taken over all finite sets $`\mathrm{\Omega }A`$. We call $`ht(\alpha )`$ the Voiculescu-Brown entropy of $`\alpha `$. For some computations see  and for a survey see .

Postponing momentarily the presentation of examples (to which we will turn at natural points as our discussion evolves), we first make the general remark that it is not at all clear from the definition of Voiculescu-Brown entropy how exponential growth (i.e., positive values) might be produced, even for commutative systems. This is in striking contrast to topological entropy, for which the mechanism behind exponential growth is manifest in an example like the shift on $`\{1,\mathrm{},d\}^{}`$.

In fact, in every case to date in which positive Voiculescu-Brown entropy has been established, the argument has ultimately hinged on the use of some measure-theoretic entropy, whether it has involved an appeal to Connes-Narnhofer-Thirring entropy or Sauvageot-Thouvenot entropy or to the equality of Voiculescu-Brown entropy and the topological entropy on the pure state space in the separable unital commutative setting (whose only known proof relies on properties of Connes-Narnhofer-Thirring entropy and the classical variational principle \[39, Prop. 4.8\]). It is thus natural to ask if we can avoid measure-theoretic entropies altogether and obtain a direct geometric explanation for the production of exponential growth.

To approach this problem, let us first examine how the kind of mixing that produces positive topological entropy is reflected geometrically at the $`C^{}`$-algebra level. Consider the right shift $`T`$ on $`X=\{1,1\}^{}`$ and the associated automorphism $`\alpha `$ of the $`C^{}`$-algebra $`C(X)`$ of complex-valued functions on $`X`$ given by $`\alpha (f)=fT`$ for all $`fC(X)`$. Define the function $`fC(X)`$ by

$$f((a_k)_k)=a_0$$

for all $`(a_k)_kX`$. Now given any $`n`$, for every $`\gamma \{1,1\}^{\{0,\mathrm{},n1\}}`$ there is some $`xX`$ such that, for each $`k=0,\mathrm{},n1`$, the function $`\alpha ^k(f)`$ takes the value $`\gamma (k)`$ at $`x`$. This implies that any map sending the standard basis of $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$ to $`\{f,\alpha (f),\mathrm{},\alpha ^{n1}(f)\}`$ extends linearly to an isometric isomorphism of the real linear spans. This simple example illustrates that, in general, a high degree of dynamical mixing will produce real linear subspaces which are isometrically isomorphic to $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$ in a canonical way with respect to the iterates of one or more suitably chosen real-valued functions.

Now suppose that in our shift example we have a matrix algebra $`M_k`$ and completely positive contractions $`\varphi :C(X)M_k`$ and $`\psi :M_kC(X)`$ such that the diagram

approximately commutes to within $`\delta `$ on $`\mathrm{\Omega }_n=\{f,\alpha (f),\mathrm{},\alpha ^{n1}(f)\}`$. Then this diagram also approximately commutes to within $`\delta `$ on the entire unit ball of the real linear span $`X`$ of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_n`$ by virtue of the fact that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_n`$ forms a standard basis for a copy of $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$. It follows that if $`\delta <1`$ then $`\varphi (X)`$ is $`(1\delta )^1`$-isomorphic to $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$, i.e., the Banach-Mazur distance

$$d(\varphi (X),\mathrm{}_1^n)=inf\{\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{\Gamma }^1:\mathrm{\Gamma }:\varphi (X)\mathrm{}_1^n\text{ is an isomorphism}\}$$

is at most $`(1\delta )^1`$. Now we know that the Voiculescu-Brown entropy agrees with the topological entropy on the pure state space, whose positive value of $`\mathrm{log}2`$ is captured in the dynamical mixing that produces $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$ via the iterates of $`f`$. Thus, taking a Banach space viewpoint, we might suspect that, in general, for a fixed $`K1`$, the presence of a subspace $`K`$-isomorphic to $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$ within the real linear space of self-adjoint elements of $`M_k`$ implies an asymptotic exponential dependence of $`k`$ on $`n`$. This is indeed the case, as demonstrated by the following key proposition, which I am grateful to Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann for having communicated to me. For simplicity, in the proposition statement and thenceforth (with the exception of Proposition 2.4 below) we will take our spaces to be over the complex numbers, as this will only affect our statements up to a fixed isomorphism factor; for example, in the above situation the $`(1\delta )^1`$-isomorphism between $`\varphi (X)`$ and $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$ extends to a $`2(1\delta )^1`$-isomorphism between the complex linear span of $`\varphi (X)`$ and the complex scalar version of $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$, where by a $`D`$-isomorphism we mean an isomorphism $`\mathrm{\Gamma }:YZ`$ between Banach spaces which satisfies $`\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{\Gamma }^1D`$.

###### Proposition 2.1.

Let $`X`$ be an $`n`$-dimensional subspace of $`M_k`$ (with the $`C^{}`$-algebra norm) which is $`D`$-isomorphic to $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$. Then

$$naD^2\mathrm{log}k$$

where $`a>0`$ is a universal constant.

The proof, which can be found in , is based on a comparison of the (Rademacher) type $`2`$ constants of the spaces involved. The required estimate on the type $`2`$ constant of $`M_k`$, in particular, can be obtained using bounds on the type $`2`$ constants of the Schatten $`p`$-classes which follow from Tomczak-Jaegermann’s work in .

With Proposition 2.1 at hand we can now make the following general statement yielding positive Voiculescu-Brown entropy as a conclusion.

###### Proposition 2.2.

Let $`\alpha `$ be an automorphism of an exact $`C^{}`$-algebra $`A`$. Suppose there exist a finite subset $`\mathrm{\Omega }A`$, a $`D1`$, and subsets $`I_n\{0,\mathrm{},n1\}\times \mathrm{\Omega }`$ satisfying $`lim\; sup_n\mathrm{}|I_n|/n>0`$ such that for each $`n`$ some (equivalently, any) map from the standard basis of $`\mathrm{}_1^{I_n}`$ to $`\{\alpha ^k(x):(k,x)I_n\}`$ linearly extends to a $`D`$-isomorphism. Then $`ht(\alpha )>0`$.

Proposition 2.2 is a direct consequence of Proposition 2.1, as the latter shows that if

$$\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim\; sup}|I_n|/n\mu >0$$

then for any $`0<\delta <D^1`$ we have

$$ht(\alpha ,\mathrm{\Omega },\delta )\mu a^1D^2(1D\delta )^2>0.$$

Note that if the hypotheses of Proposition 2.2 hold for an automorphism $`\alpha `$, then they also hold for any automorphism $`\beta `$ of a $`C^{}`$-algebra $`B`$ such that there is a surjective -homomorphism $`\gamma :BA`$ satisfying $`\gamma \beta =\alpha \gamma `$ (as is easily checked using the contractivity of $`\gamma `$), so that every such $`C^{}`$-dynamical extension $`\beta `$ of $`\alpha `$ has positive entropy. We thus obtain some information about the behaviour of Voiculescu-Brown entropy under taking extensions, which in general has remained a mystery.

As a concrete illustration of Proposition 2.2, consider the following operator-theoretic examples from . We start with a sequence $`\gamma \{1,0,1\}^{}`$ in which every finite string of $`1`$’s and $`1`$’s occurs. Setting $`E_i=\{k:\gamma (k)=i\}`$ for each $`i=1,0,1`$, we define the operator $`x(\mathrm{}_2(E_1E_1))`$ by specifying

$$x\xi _k=\gamma (k)\xi _k$$

on the set $`\{\xi _k:kE_1E_1\}`$ of standard basis elements of $`\mathrm{}_2()`$. Next take the direct sum of $`x`$ with any self-adjoint operator of norm at most one on $`(\mathrm{}_2(E_0))`$, which yields an operator $`y`$ on $`(\mathrm{}_2())(\mathrm{}_2(E_1E_1))(\mathrm{}_2(E_0))`$. Now if $`\alpha `$ is an automorphism of an exact $`C^{}`$-subalgebra $`A`$ of $`(\mathrm{}_2())`$ which restricts to the inner automorphism of $`(\mathrm{}_2())`$ arising from the canonical bilateral shift on $`\mathrm{}_2()`$ as applied to $`y`$ and its iterates, then $`ht(\alpha )>0`$ by Proposition 2.2, since it is readily seen from our choice of sequence $`\gamma `$ that for every $`n`$ any map from the standard basis of $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$ to $`\{y,\alpha (y),\mathrm{},\alpha ^{n1}(y)\}`$ linearly extends over $``$ to an isometric isomorphism, and hence over $``$ to a $`2`$-isomorphism. Without addressing here the general question of the existence of exact $`C^{}`$-algebras admitting an automorphism $`\alpha `$ as above, we point out in particular that if $`a`$ is a diagonal operator then we obtain from the shift on $`\mathrm{}_2()`$ a positive entropy automorphism of the commutative $`C^{}`$-algebra $`A`$ generated by $`a`$ and its iterates. Note than we can thus obtain positive topological entropy without having a topological description of the system at hand.

###### Problem 2.3.

Under what conditions does the converse of Proposition 2.2 hold?

For homeomorphisms of the Cantor set we can show that the converse of Proposition 2.2 is valid, and even in a stronger form:

###### Proposition 2.4.

Let $`T:XX`$ be a homeomorphism of the Cantor set. Then $`h_{\mathrm{top}}(T)>0`$ if and only if there is a continuous function $`f:X`$ and subsets $`I_n\{0,\mathrm{},n1\}`$ with $`lim\; sup_n\mathrm{}|I_n|/n>0`$ such that for each $`n`$ the set $`\{fT^k:kI_n\}`$ forms a standard basis for a copy of $`\mathrm{}_1^{I_n}`$ inside the real Banach space $`C(X,)`$, i.e., any map from the standard basis elements of $`\mathrm{}_1^{I_n}`$ to $`\{fT^k:kI_n\}`$ extends linearly over $``$ to an isometric isomorphism.

###### Proof.

In view of Proposition 2.2 we need only prove the “only if” implication. Suppose then that $`h_{\mathrm{top}}(T)>0`$. We will begin by showing the existence of a $`2`$-element clopen partition $`𝒰`$ of $`X`$ such that $`h_{\mathrm{top}}(T,𝒰)>0`$ (cf. the first part of the proof of Proposition 1 in ). Since the topology of $`X`$ is generated by the clopen sets there is a finite clopen cover $`𝒱=\{V_1,\mathrm{}V_n\}`$ of $`X`$ such that $`h_{\mathrm{top}}(T,𝒱)>0`$. We may assume that $`𝒱`$ is in fact a partition of $`X`$ by suitably refining it if necessary. For each $`k=1,\mathrm{},n`$ denote by $`𝒱_k`$ the clopen partition $`\{V_k,XV_k\}`$. Since $`𝒱_1\mathrm{}𝒱_n`$ is a refinement of $`𝒱`$ we then have

$$0<h_{\mathrm{top}}(T,𝒱)h_{\mathrm{top}}(T,𝒱_1\mathrm{}𝒱_n)\underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}h_{\mathrm{top}}(T,𝒱_k).$$

Thus for some $`k=1,\mathrm{},n`$ the $`2`$-element clopen partition $`𝒱_k`$ satisfies $`h_{\mathrm{top}}(T,𝒱_k)>0`$, as desired. Rewrite this clopen partition as $`𝒰=\{U_1,U_1\}`$.

Next set $`f=\chi _{U_1}\chi _{U_1}C(X,)`$ where $`\chi _{U_1}`$ and $`\chi _{U_1}`$ are the characteristic functions of $`U_1`$ and $`U_1`$, respectively. For each $`n`$ denote by $`𝒲_n`$ the clopen partition $`𝒰T^1𝒰\mathrm{}T^{(n1)}𝒰`$ and by $`E_n`$ the set of all $`\gamma \{1,1\}^{\{0,\mathrm{},n1\}}`$ such that $`_{k=0}^{n1}T^kU_{\gamma (k)}𝒲_n`$. By the Sauer-Perles-Shelah lemma (or more specifically the consequence thereof formulated as Lemma 2.2 in ) there are a $`c>0`$ and an $`n_0`$ such that for all $`nn_0`$ there is a subset $`I_n\{0,1,\mathrm{},n1\}`$ satisfying $`|I_n|cn`$ and $`E_n|I_n=\{1,1\}^{I_n}`$. Now if $`nn_0`$ then for every $`\gamma E_n|I_n`$ there is a point $`xX`$ such that $`(fT^k)(x)=\gamma (k)`$ for every $`kI_n`$. As in the example of the shift on $`\{1,1\}^{}`$, this implies that any map sending the standard basis of $`\mathrm{}_1^{I_n}`$ to $`\{fT^k:kI_n\}`$ extends linearly over $``$ to an isometric isomorphism, and thus since $`lim\; sup_n\mathrm{}|I_n|/nc>0`$ we are done. ∎

In this section we have used only the Banach space structure of the $`C^{}`$-algebras in question. For a stark illustration of how the operator space structure can come into play, consider the shift $`u_ku_{k+1}`$ on the full group $`C^{}`$-algebra $`C^{}(𝔽_{\mathrm{}})`$ of the free group on a countable set of generators with associated unitaries $`\{u_k\}_k`$. For each $`n`$ the set $`\{u_1,u_2,\mathrm{},u_n\}`$ forms a standard basis for a copy of $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$, but the $`C^{}`$-algebra $`C^{}(𝔽_{\mathrm{}})`$ is not exact and for $`n2`$ any complete isomorphism between $`\mathrm{span}\{u_1,u_2,\mathrm{},u_n\}`$ and a subspace of a matrix algebra has completely bounded isomorphism constant at least $`n(2\sqrt{n1})^1`$ (see ). In the next section we will discuss the analogous shift on the reduced group $`C^{}`$-algebra $`C_r^{}(𝔽_{\mathrm{}})`$, which from a geometric viewpoint is drastically different.

## 3. The free shift

Here we apply our geometric perspective to the example of the free shift on the reduced group $`C^{}`$-algebra $`C_r^{}(𝔽_{\mathrm{}})`$ of the free group on a countable set $`\{g_k\}_k`$ of generators. This automorphism, which we will simply refer to as the free shift, arises from the shift $`kk+1`$ on the index set $``$. It can be regarded as a quantized version of the shift $`kk+1`$ on $``$ compactified with a fixed point at infinity, whereby orthogonality in $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}^n`$ (for which the characteristic functions of the singletons $`\{1\},\mathrm{},\{n\}`$ form a standard basis) is replaced by orthogonality in $`\mathrm{}_2^n`$ (for which the unitaries associated to the elements $`g_1,\mathrm{},g_n𝔽_{\mathrm{}}`$ form a standard basis). While this analogy makes little sense from the perspective of free probability (in terms of which reduced free products actually exhibit parallels with tensor products ), it is the appropriate one for our dynamical context, as we will see. In the noncommutative case, however, we must also take the operator space structure into account. Indeed our “quantization” is not unique and we could also consider for example the analogous free shift on the Cuntz algebra $`𝒪_{\mathrm{}}`$  (see the second paragraph below).

It was shown in both  and , via different arguments, that the free shift has zero Voiculescu-Brown entropy. Correspondingly, the compactified shift on $``$ has zero topological entropy, as is readily computed directly from the definition.

In  Størmer describes the free shift as the “most noncommutative” situation and accordingly asserts that highly noncommutative systems tend to have small entropy. The phenomenon underlying this statement appears in fact to have less to do with noncommutativity per se than with the relation of orthogonality, which is being considered here in its quantized Hilbert space sense (cf. the discussion in the introduction of ) but is equally well associated to zero entropy (in fact, arithmetic dynamical growth) in the classical commutative situation. It is hardly a coincidence that the matrix algebra $`M_n`$ accommodates both $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}^n`$ (down the diagonal) and $`\mathrm{}_2^n`$ (across any row or down any column), giving us a hint that the dynamical growth is subexponential, and hence that the entropy is zero, for both the compactified shift on $``$ and the free shift. This hint leads directly to a proof of zero Voiculescu-Brown entropy for the compactified shift on $``$ at the $`C^{}`$-algebra level. On the other hand, in the noncommutative case we have to be more careful as a result of the operator space structures involved, and indeed the situation for the free shift is subtler and more sophisticated arguments are required . In fact the closed subspace spanned by the unitaries in $`C_r^{}(𝔽_{\mathrm{}})`$ corresponding to the generators of $`𝔽_{\mathrm{}}`$ is completely isomorphic to the closed subspace spanned by the elements $`e_{1i}e_{i1}`$ in the direct sum $`RC`$ of the row and column Hilbert spaces in $`(\mathrm{}_2)`$  (see also Section 8.3 of ). Actually, if we take the operator space structure of a matrix algebra into consideration then the geometric hint from above applies precisely and directly in the noncommutative case if we switch to the nuclear setting of the Cuntz algebra $`𝒪_{\mathrm{}}`$ (which can be viewed as an infinite reduced free product of Toeplitz algebras—see Chapter 1 of ) and consider the automorphism defined by shifting the index on the canonical isometries $`\{s_k\}_k`$ , for then arithmetic dynamical growth and hence zero Voiculescu-Brown entropy, at least at the local level of the canonical isometries, is readily seen by combining the fact that the closed subspace spanned by $`\{s_k\}_k`$ is canonically completely isometric to the column Hilbert space in $`(\mathrm{}_2)`$ (see Section 1 of ) with a result of Pop and Smith that permits us to use general completely contractive linear maps in the definition of Voiculescu-Brown entropy  and an appeal to Wittstock’s extension theorem which permits us to extend completely contractive linear maps into $`()`$ for any Hilbert space $``$ (see ).

Størmer furthermore expresses surprise in  that the free shift has zero entropy in view of the fact that it is extremely ergodic, in the sense that its extension to the weak operator closure admits no proper globally invariant injective von Neumann subalgebra except for the scalars . However, extreme ergodicity in topological dynamics (i.e., the non-existence, at the function level, of proper globally invariant unital $`C^{}`$-subalgebras besides the scalars, which is usually referred to as “primeness” ) is typically associated with a lack of recurrence and, in particular, zero entropy (by  all finite-dimensional prime systems have zero entropy). Moreover this behaviour is manifested in an extreme way in our classical example of the compactified shift on $``$. Note that if $`fC(\{\mathrm{}\})`$ belongs to a proper unital $`C^{}`$-subalgebra of $`C(\{\mathrm{}\})`$ which is globally invariant under the induced $`C^{}`$-algebra automorphism, then with $`T`$ denoting the compactified shift we obtain from the Stone-Weierstrass theorem the existence of two distinct points $`m,n\{\mathrm{}\}`$ such that $`f(T^j(m))=f(T^j(n))`$ for all $`j`$, from which we infer by the continuity of $`f`$ that $`f(k)=f(\mathrm{})`$ for all $`k`$, i.e., $`f`$ is constant. Thus the only globally invariant unital $`C^{}`$-subalgebras are the scalars and $`C(\{\mathrm{}\})`$ itself.

By viewing the free shift as a quantization of the compactified shift on $``$ it therefore seems natural to expect zero Voiculescu-Brown entropy in light of the above geometric and topological considerations. We will not delve here into a rigorous explanation for zero entropy, referring again to  for proofs.

Along the same lines, we might also regard a reduced free product of $`C^{}`$-algebra automorphisms as a quantized version of a disjoint union of homeomorphisms or of a direct sum of $`C^{}`$-algebra automorphisms. Indeed by  we have the formula

$$ht(\alpha \beta )=\mathrm{max}(ht(\alpha ),ht(\beta ))$$

for reduced free products with amalgamation over a finite-dimensional $`C^{}`$-algebra, paralleling the behaviour of disjoint unions with respect to topological entropy or direct sums with respect to Voiculescu-Brown entropy.

Thus the world of freeness, while inexhaustibly rich from a free probability viewpoint (see ), is associated with a high degree of determinism in $`C^{}`$-dynamics.

The discussion of this section vividly illustrates the idea, promoted by Weaver in , that the notion of quantization is at essence about Hilbert space, with noncommutativity appearing as a technical consequence.

## 4. Induced dynamics on state spaces

We will indicate in this section how Proposition 2.1 can be applied in a more systematic way to obtain a noncommutative analogue of Glasner and Weiss’s result (Theorem 1.1) that zero topological entropy implies zero entropy on the space of probability measures. Full details can be found in .

The proof of Proposition 2.1 in , which involves a functional-analytic application of the combinatorial Sauer-Perles-Shelah lemma, can be adapted to establish the following result. Here $`C_1^n`$ denotes the space of $`n\times n`$ matrices with the trace class norm.

###### Lemma 4.1.

Given $`\epsilon >0`$ and $`\lambda >0`$ there exist $`n_0`$ and $`\mu >0`$ such that, for all $`nn_0`$, if $`\varphi :C_1^{r_n}\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}^n`$ is a -linear map of norm at most $`1`$ such that the image of the unit ball of $`C_1^{r_n}`$ under $`\varphi `$ contains an $`\epsilon `$-separated set of self-adjoint elements of cardinality at least $`e^{\lambda n}`$, then $`r_ne^{\mu n}`$.

Whereas Glasner and Weiss apply information about the possible size of subspaces of $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}^n`$ and $`\mathrm{}_1^n`$ which are approximately isometric to $`\mathrm{}_2^k`$, for the proof of Lemma 4.1 we must alternatively appeal to Proposition 2.1, which addresses the matrix situation.

Now let $`A`$ be an separable exact $`C^{}`$-algebra and $`\alpha `$ an automorphism of $`A`$, and denote by $`T_\alpha `$ the induced homeomorphism $`\omega \omega \alpha `$ of the quasi-state space $`Q(A)`$ (i.e., the convex set of positive linear functionals $`\varphi `$ on $`A`$ with $`\varphi 1`$, equipped with the weak topology, under which it is compact). Suppose that $`T_\alpha `$ has positive topological entropy (this actually implies that the entropy is infinite—see —but this is not of consequence for the present discussion). Then by metrizing $`Q(A)`$ by taking the supremum of the absolute values of the differences of two given elements under evaluation on a compact and total subset $`K`$ of self-adjoint elements of $`A`$, we can apply the separated set definition of topological entropy and push everything down to the level of the matrix algebras involved in the definition of Voiculescu-Brown entropy to permit an application of Lemma 4.1, with the required -linear map from $`C_1^{r_n}`$ to $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{}}^n`$ constructed by evaluating a suitable finite subset of $`K`$ on the relevant elements of $`Q(A)`$ as modeled at the matrix level. Lemma 4.1 guarantees exponential growth in the rank of the matrix algebras, and so we obtain the following result.

###### Theorem 4.2.

Let $`A`$ be a separable exact $`C^{}`$-algebra and $`\alpha `$ an automorphism of $`A`$. If $`\alpha `$ has zero Voiculescu-Brown entropy, then $`T_\alpha `$ has zero topological entropy.

If $`A`$ is unital then in the statement of the thereom we can also replace $`T_\alpha `$ with its restriction to the state space.

Since topological entropy is non-decreasing under passing to subsystems, Theorem 4.2 shows in particular that if the induced homeomorphim $`T_\alpha `$ on the quasi-state space has positive topological entropy, then every $`C^{}`$-dynamical extension of $`\alpha `$ has positive Voiculescu-Brown entropy (cf. the second paragraph after the statement of Proposition 2.2). More generally:

###### Corollary 4.3.

Let $`A`$ and $`B`$ be separable exact $`C^{}`$-algebras and $`\alpha :AA`$ and $`\beta :BB`$ automorphisms. Suppose that the homeomorphism of the quasi-state space of $`A`$ has positive topological entropy, and suppose that there exists a surjective positive contractive linear map $`\gamma :BA`$ such that $`\alpha \gamma =\gamma \beta `$, or an injective positive contractive linear map $`\rho :AB`$ such that $`\beta \rho =\rho \alpha `$. Then $`\beta `$ has positive Voiculescu-Brown entropy. More generally, the same conclusion holds whenever $`\alpha `$ can be obtained from $`\beta `$ through a finite chain of intermediary automorphisms intertwined in succession by maps of the same form as $`\gamma `$ or $`\rho `$.

In the other direction, we can draw from Theorem 4.2 some topological-dynamical conclusions such as the following proposition, which holds in view of the fact that the free shift on $`C_r^{}(𝔽_{\mathrm{}})`$ (see Section 3) has zero Voiculescu-Brown entropy .

###### Proposition 4.4.

The homeomorphism of the state space of $`C_r^{}(𝔽_{\mathrm{}})`$ induced by the free shift has zero topological entropy.

Finally, we ask:

###### Question 4.5.

Does the converse of Theorem 4.2 hold?

Possible candidates for counterexamples to the converse of Theorem 4.2 can be found among the collection of automorphisms of the rotation $`C^{}`$-algebras $`A_\theta `$ associated to a given matrix $`SSL(2,)`$ with eigenvalues off the unit circle. For every $`\theta `$ the automorphism of $`A_\theta `$ defined via $`S`$ has positive Voiculescu-Brown entropy , but we have not been able to determine the topological entropy on the state space for irrational $`\theta `$. See  for details.

Note added: An answer to Problem 2.3 has now been given in .


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# On the Local Langlands Correspondence

## Introduction

Compared to the absolute Galois group of a number field, e.g. $`Gal(\overline{}/)`$, the Galois group $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_F`$ of a non-archimedean local field $`F`$ has a ridiculously simple structure. Modulo the inertia group $`I_F`$, there is a natural isomorphism

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_F/I_F\stackrel{}{}Gal(\overline{k}_F/k_F),$$

where $`k_F`$ is the residue field of $`F`$. Then $`Gal(\overline{k}_F/k_F)`$ is topologically generated by the geometric Frobenius $`Frob(x)=x^{\frac{1}{q}}`$, where $`q=|k_F|=p^f`$ for $`p`$ prime. The inertia group has a two step filtration,

$$1P_FI_F\underset{\mathrm{}p}{}_{\mathrm{}}1,$$

where the wild ramification group $`P_F`$ is a pro-$`p`$ group.

Thus if $`\sigma :\mathrm{\Gamma }_FGL(n,)`$ is a continuous homomorphism, $`n1`$, then the image of $`\sigma `$ is solvable, and $`\sigma (P_F)`$ is nilpotent. This is still true when $`\sigma `$ is a finite-dimensional complex representation of the Weil group, the subgroup $`W_F\mathrm{\Gamma }_F`$ of elements whose image in $`Gal(\overline{k}_F/k_F)`$ is an integral power of $`Frob`$. Despite this simplicity, our understanding of the set of equivalence classes of $`n`$-dimensional representations of $`W_F`$ is far from complete, at least when $`p`$ divides $`n`$.

The reciprocity map of local class field theory:

$$F^\times \stackrel{}{}W_F^{ab},$$

identifies the set $`𝒢(1,F)`$ of one-dimensional representations of $`W_F`$ with the set $`𝒜(1,F)`$ of irreducible representations of $`F^\times =GL(1,F)`$. More than a simple bijection, this identification respects a number of salient structures, and its behavior with respect to field extensions $`F^{}/F`$ is well understood. Moreover, it is compatible, in a straightforward way, with global class field theory, and was historically first derived as a consequence of the latter.

A simple special case of Langlands’ functoriality principle is the so-called strong Artin conjecture, which identifies the Artin L-function attached to an irreducible $`n`$-dimensional representation of $`Gal(\overline{}/K)`$, for a number field $`K`$, as the $`L`$-function of a cuspidal automorphic representation of $`GL(n)_K`$. As a local counterpart, Langlands proposed a parametrization of irreducible admissible representations of reductive groups over the local field $`F`$ in terms of representations of $`W_F`$. The prototypical example is the local Langlands conjecture for $`GL(n)`$. By analogy with the case $`n=1`$, the set of equivalence classes of irreducible admissible representations of $`G_n=GL(n,F)`$ is denoted $`𝒜(n,F)`$. By $`𝒢(n,F)`$ we denote the set of equivalence classes of $`n`$-dimensional representations, not of $`W_F`$ but rather of the Weil-Deligne group $`WD_F`$, and only consider representations for which any lifting of $`Frob`$ acts semisimply. Then the general local Langlands conjecture for $`GL(n)`$, in its crudest form, asserts the existence of a family of bijections, as $`F`$ and $`n`$ vary:

$$\sigma =\sigma _{n,F}:𝒜(n,F)\stackrel{}{}𝒢(n,F).$$
$`0.1`$
A normalization condition is that the central character $`\xi _\pi `$ of $`\pi 𝒜(n,F)`$ correspond to $`det\sigma (\pi )`$ via local class field theory.

The first general result of this type was proved by Henniart \[He1\]. Early work of Bernstein and Zelevinsky reduced (0.1) to the existence of bijections

$$\sigma =\sigma _{n,F}:𝒜_0(n,F)\stackrel{}{}𝒢_0(n,F),$$
$`0.2`$
where $`𝒢_0(n,F)`$ are the irreducible representations of $`W_F`$ and $`𝒜_0(n,F)`$ is the supercuspidal subset of $`𝒜(n,F)`$. Both sides of (0.2) are homogeneous spaces under $`𝒜(1,F)`$, and thus under its subset $`𝒜^{unr}(1,F)`$ of unramified characters $`\chi `$ of $`F^\times `$: if $`\pi 𝒜_0(n,F)`$ (resp. $`\sigma 𝒢_0(n,F)`$), we denote by $`\pi \chi `$ (resp. $`\sigma \chi `$) the tensor product of $`\pi `$ (resp. $`\sigma `$) with the one-dimensional representation $`\chi det`$ of $`G_n`$ (resp. with the character $`\sigma _{1,F}(\chi )`$ of $`W_F`$). Each $`𝒜^{unr}(1,F)`$-orbit on either side of (0.2) has a discrete invariant, the Artin conductor $`a(\pi )`$, resp. $`a(\sigma )`$, and the sets $`𝒜_0(n,F)[a]`$, resp. $`𝒢_0(n,F)[a]`$ of orbits with given Artin conductor $`a`$ are known to be finite. The main theorem of \[He1\] is the numerical local Langlands correspondence

$$|𝒜_0(n,F)[a]|=|𝒢_0(n,F)[a]|,$$
$`0.3`$
established by painstakingly counting both sides.

It has been known for some time that a family of bijections (0.2), compatible with Artin conductors and twists by $`𝒜(1,F)`$, is not unique. Henniart showed (the Uniqueness Theorem, \[He2\]) that at most one normalized bijection is compatible with contragredients and twists and satisfies the condition:

$$L(s,\pi \pi ^{})=L(s,\sigma (\pi )\sigma (\pi ^{}));\epsilon (s,\pi \pi ^{},\psi )=\epsilon (s,\sigma (\pi )\sigma (\pi ^{}),\psi )$$
$`0.4`$
for $`\pi 𝒜_0(n,F)`$, $`\pi ^{}𝒜_0(n^{},F)`$, $`n^{}<n`$. Here $`\psi :F^\times `$ is a non-trivial character. The $`L`$\- and $`\epsilon `$-factors are defined on the automorphic side in \[JPS, Sh\]; on the Galois side by Langlands and Deligne (cf. \[D\]). It is in this version that the local Langlands conjecture for $`GL(n)`$ has finally been established: for fields of positive characteristic in \[LRS\], and for $`p`$-adic fields in \[HT\], followed shortly thereafter by \[He3\] (see also \[He5\]).

## 1. Compatibility with global correspondences

As in the first proofs of local class field theory, the bijections (0.2) are constructed in \[LRS,HT,He3\] by local specialization of maps for certain global fields $`E`$:

$$\sigma =\sigma _{n,E}:𝒜^{good}(n,E)𝒢(n,E).$$
$`1.1`$
Here $`E`$ is supposed to have a place $`w`$ such that $`E_w\stackrel{}{}F`$, $`𝒜^{good}(n,E)`$ is a class of cuspidal automorphic representations of $`GL(n)_E`$ chosen to fit the circumstances, and $`𝒢(n,E)`$ can be taken to be the set of equivalence classes of compatible families of $`n`$-dimensional semi-simple $`\lambda `$-adic representations of $`Gal(\overline{E}/E)`$. In particular, both sides of (1.1) as well as (0.2) are taken with $`\mathrm{}`$-adic, rather than complex, coefficients; this does not change the problem in an essential way.

The map $`\sigma `$ of (0.1) is particularly simple for unramified representations. An unramified $`\tau 𝒢(n,F)`$ is given by an unordered $`n`$-tuple $`(\chi _1,\mathrm{},\chi _n)`$ of unramified characters of $`W_F^{ab}\stackrel{}{}F^\times `$. Ordering the $`\chi _i`$ arbitrarily, we obtain a character $`\chi `$ of the Levi subgroup $`G_1^n`$ of a Borel subgroup $`BG_n`$. The element of $`𝒜(n,F)`$ corresponding to $`\tau `$ is then the unique subquotient $`\pi (\tau )=\sigma ^1(\tau )`$ of the normalized induced representation $`Ind_B^{GL(n,F)}\chi `$ containing a vector fixed by $`GL(n,𝒪_F)`$, $`𝒪_F`$ the integer ring of $`F`$. This defines a bijection, a special case of the Satake parametrization, between the unramified subset $`𝒢^{unr}(n,F)`$ and the unramified (spherical) representations $`𝒜^{unr}(n,F)`$ of $`G_n`$.

Fix an automorphic representation $`\mathrm{\Pi }=_v\mathrm{\Pi }_v`$ of $`GL(n)_E`$. The representation $`\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })`$, when it exists, should have the property that

$$\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })|{}_{W_{E_v}}{}^{}=\sigma _{n,E_v}(\mathrm{\Pi }_v)$$
$`1.2`$
for almost all $`v`$ such that $`\mathrm{\Pi }_v𝒜^{unr}(n,E_v)`$; i.e., all but finitely many $`v`$. By Chebotarev density, this determines $`\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })`$ uniquely. One can then hope that

###### Hope 1.3

$`\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })_{W_{E_v}}`$ depends only on $`F`$ and $`\mathrm{\Pi }_v`$ for rm all $`v`$,

including $`v=w`$, the place of interest. Setting $`\sigma _{n,F}(\mathrm{\Pi }_v)=\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })_{W_{E_v}}`$, one then needs to show that

###### 1.4

For any $`\pi 𝒜_0(n,F)`$ there exists $`\mathrm{\Pi }𝒜^{good}(n,E)`$, for some $`E`$, with $`\mathrm{\Pi }_w\pi `$;

###### 1.5

For $`\mathrm{\Pi }𝒜^{good}(n,E)`$, $`\mathrm{\Pi }^{}𝒜^{good}(n^{},E)`$, the completed $`L`$-function $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(s,\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })\sigma _{n^{},E}(\mathrm{\Pi }^{}))`$ satisfies the functional equation

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }(s,\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })\sigma _{n^{},E}(\mathrm{\Pi }^{}))=\epsilon (s,\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })\sigma _{n^{},E}(\mathrm{\Pi }^{}))\mathrm{\Lambda }(1s,\stackrel{ˇ}{\sigma }_{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })\stackrel{ˇ}{\sigma }_{n^{},E}(\mathrm{\Pi }^{}));$$

$$\epsilon (s,\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })\sigma _{n^{},E}(\mathrm{\Pi }^{}))=\underset{v}{}\epsilon _v(s,\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })\sigma _{n^{},E}(\mathrm{\Pi }^{}),\psi _v)$$

is the product of local Deligne-Langlands $`\epsilon `$ factors.

Here $`\stackrel{ˇ}{}`$ denotes contragredient. The local additive characters $`\psi _v`$ are assumed to be the local components of a continuous character of $`𝔸_E/E`$.

###### 1.6

The map $`\sigma =\sigma _{n,F}:𝒜_0(n,F)𝒢(n,F)`$

The main burden of \[LRS\] is the construction of a class $`𝒜^{good}(n,E)`$ large enough to satisfy (1.4): now a moot point, since Lafforgue has proved that all cuspidal automorphic representations of $`GL(n)`$ of a function field are “good” in this sense. The $`𝒜^{good}(n,E)`$ in \[LRS\] are the automorphic representations that contribute to the cohomology of an appropriate Drinfeld modular variety, constructed from scratch for the occasion, attached to the multiplicative group of a division algebra of dimension $`n^2`$ over $`E`$, unramified at the chosen $`w`$. Property (1.5) in this case follows from general results of Deligne in \[D\], valid only in equal characteristic. Now by (1.2), for a sufficiently large set $`S`$ of places of $`E`$ we have

$$\underset{vS}{}L(s,\mathrm{\Pi }_v\times \mathrm{\Pi }_v^{})=\underset{vS}{}L(s,\sigma _{n,E_v}(\mathrm{\Pi }_v)\sigma _{n^{},E_v}(\mathrm{\Pi }_v^{})),$$
$`1.7`$
where the left-hand side is the Rankin-Selberg L-function. Completing the latter to $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(s,\mathrm{\Pi }\mathrm{\Pi }^{})`$ and applying \[JPS\] or \[Sh\], we find the functional equation

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }(s,\mathrm{\Pi }\mathrm{\Pi }^{})=\underset{v}{}\epsilon _v(s,\mathrm{\Pi }\mathrm{\Pi }^{},\psi _v)\mathrm{\Lambda }(1s,\stackrel{ˇ}{\mathrm{\Pi }}\stackrel{ˇ}{\mathrm{\Pi }}^{}).$$
$`1.8`$
In other words, the partial $`L`$-functions, identified via (1.8), satisfy two functional equations (1.5) and (1.8). An argument first used by Henniart then yields (0.4), and then (1.3) and the full local Langlands conjecture follow from the Uniqueness Theorem of \[He2\].

When $`F`$ is $`p`$-adic a class $`𝒜^{CK}(n,E)`$ satisfying (1.2) is implicitly defined by work of Clozel and Kottwitz \[K,Cl1\], provided $`E`$ is a CM field. For $`𝒜^{CK}(n,E)`$ one can take cuspidal automorphic representations $`\mathrm{\Pi }`$, cohomological at all archimedean primes, square integrable at several finite primes other than $`w`$, and such that $`\stackrel{ˇ}{\mathrm{\Pi }}\mathrm{\Pi }^c`$, where $`c`$ denotes conjugation of $`E`$ over its maximal totally real subfield. However, the Galois-theoretic functional equation (1.5) is only available a priori when $`\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })`$ is associated to a global complex representation of the Weil group of $`E`$; i.e. when $`\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })`$ becomes abelian over a finite extension of $`E`$. The article \[H2\] showed that there were enough $`\mathrm{\Pi }`$ of this type in $`𝒜^{CK}(n,E)`$. Denoting by $`𝒜^{good}(n,E)`$ the set of such $`\mathrm{\Pi }`$, we find that (1.4) is impossible as soon as $`p`$ divides $`n`$; however, an argument in \[H2\], based on Brauer’s theorem on induced characters and (0.3), shows that (1.4) is true “virtually,” in the set of formal sums with integral coefficients of elements of $`𝒜^{good}(n,E)`$ for varying $`n`$. It then suffices to prove the following weak form of (1.3), which occupies the bulk of \[HT\]:

###### Theorem 1.9 \[HT\]

For all $`\mathrm{\Pi }𝒜^{CK}(n,E)`$, the semisimplification $`\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })_{W_{E_v},ss}`$ of $`\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })_{W_{E_v}}`$ depends only on $`F`$ and $`\mathrm{\Pi }_v`$ for rm all $`v`$.

More precisely, \[HT\] proves that $`\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })_{W_F,ss}`$ can be calculated explicitly in the vanishing cycles of certain formal deformation spaces $`M_{LT,F}^h`$ defined by Drinfeld (see §2). Following \[K,Cl1\], the representations $`\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })`$ are initially realized in the cohomology of certain Shimura varieties with canonical models over $`E`$, and (1.9) is proved by a study of their bad reduction at $`w`$. Henniart soon realized that, for $`\mathrm{\Pi }𝒜^{good}(n,E)`$, the purely local nature of $`\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })_{W_{E_v},ss}`$, and hence the definition of a map $`\sigma _{n,F}`$, could be derived directly from (1.5) and from the results of \[He1,He2\]. Though \[He3\] dispenses with the geometry, it is still a global argument inasmuch as it relies on \[H2\], which in turn depends on \[K,Cl1\] and \[CL\].the conditional base change results of \[CL\].

A global consequence of Theorem 1.9 is the Generalized Ramanujan Conjecture for the automorphic representations in $`𝒜^{CK}(n,E)`$: if $`\mathrm{\Pi }𝒜^{CK}(n,E)`$ and is unitary then its local component $`\mathrm{\Pi }_v`$ is tempered at every finite prime $`v`$. Clozel in \[Cl1\] already showed this to be true for almost all unramified $`v`$. Generalizing a method developed by Lubotzky, Phillips, and Sarnak for the $`2`$-sphere, Clozel \[Cl2\] uses the version of the Generalized Ramanujan Conjecture proved in \[HT\] to obtain effective constructions of families of equidistributed points on odd-dimensional spheres.

With (0.1) out of the way, we can propose the following improvement of (1.3):

###### Problem 1

Show that

$$\sigma _{n,E}(\mathrm{\Pi })_{W_{E_v}}\stackrel{}{}\sigma _{n,E_v}(\mathrm{\Pi }_v).$$
$`1.10`$
For $`n=2`$ this was established by Carayol assuming standard conjectures on the semisimplicity of Frobenius. Theorem 1.9 shows that it holds up to semisimplification. The techniques of \[HT\], like the earlier work of Kottwitz treating unramified places, is based on a comparison of trace formulas, and cannot detect the difference between two representations with the same semisimplification. Assuming semisimplicity of Frobenius, the equality (1.10) follows easily from Theorem 1.9 and Deligne’s conjecture, apparently inaccessible, on the purity of the monodromy weight filtration.

### Compatibility with functoriality

Given cuspidal automorphic representations $`\mathrm{\Pi }_i`$ of $`GL(n_i)_E`$, for $`i=1,2,\mathrm{},r`$, and a homomorphism $`\rho :GL(n_1)\times \mathrm{}\times GL(n_r)GL(N)`$ of algebraic groups, Langlands functoriality predicts the existence of an automorphic representation $`\rho _{}(\mathrm{\Pi }_1\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Pi }_r)`$, not necessarily cuspidal, of $`GL(N)_E`$, such that, for almost all unramified places $`v`$ of $`E`$,

$$\sigma _{N,E_v}(\rho _{}(\mathrm{\Pi }_1\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Pi }_r)_v)=\rho (_{i=1}^r\sigma _{n_i,E_v}(\mathrm{\Pi }_{i,v})).$$
$`1.11`$
In recent years this has been proved for general number fields $`E`$ in several important special cases: the tensor products $`GL(2)\times GL(2)GL(4)`$ (Ramakrishnan) and $`GL(2)\times GL(3)GL(6)`$ (Kim-Shahidi), and the symmetric powers $`Sym^3:GL(2)GL(4)`$ (Kim-Shahidi) and $`Sym^4:GL(2)GL(5)`$ (Kim). It has been verified in all four cases that (1.11) holds for all $`v`$.

### Construction of supercuspidal representations by “backwards lifting”

The unitary representation $`\pi 𝒜_0(n,F)`$ is isomorphic to its contragredient if and only if the local factor $`L(s,\pi \times \pi )`$ has a pole at $`s=0`$, which is necessarily simple. The local factor can be decomposed as a product:

$$L(s,\pi \times \pi )=L(s,\pi ,Sym^2)L(s,\pi ,^2),$$
$`1.12`$
where the two terms on the right are defined for unramified $`\pi `$ by Langlands and in general by Shahidi. Only one of the factors on the right has a pole. Using the class $`𝒜^{good}(n,E)`$ of automorphic representations, Henniart has shown that it is the first factor (resp. the second factor) if and only if $`\sigma (\pi )`$ is orthogonal (resp. symplectic); the symplectic case only arises for $`n`$ even. One thus expects that $`\pi `$ is obtained by functorial transfer from an $`L`$-packet of a classical group $`G`$ over $`F`$, via the map of $`L`$-groups $`{}_{}{}^{L}GGL(n,)`$, where $`{}_{}{}^{L}G=SO(n,)`$, resp. $`Sp(n,)`$, if the first, resp. the second factor in (1.12) has a pole at $`s=0`$.

In particular, when $`n=2m`$ and $`L(s,\pi ,^2)`$ has a pole at $`s=0`$, $`\pi `$ should come from an $`L`$-packet on the split group $`SO(2m+1,F)`$. Using a local analogue of the method of “backwards lifting,” or automorphic descent, due to Ginzburg, Rallis, and Soudry, Jiang and Soudry have constructed a generic supercuspidal representation $`\pi ^{}`$ of $`SO(2m+1,F)`$ for every $`\pi 𝒜_0(n,F)`$ with the indicated pole. More generally, they have obtained a complete parametrization of generic representations of split $`G=SO(2m+1,F)`$ in terms of Langlands parameters $`WD_F{}_{}{}^{L}G`$ \[JS\]. These results should certainly extend to other classical groups.

## 2. Cohomological realizations of the local correspondence

The theory of the new vector implies easily that any irreducible admissible representation $`\pi 𝒜(n,F)`$ has a rational model over the field of definition of its isomorphism class: the Brauer obstruction is trivial for $`G_n`$. The analogous assertion fails for representations in $`𝒢(n,F)`$. Thus one cannot expect the existence of a space $``$, with a natural action of $`G_n\times W_F`$, whose cohomology of whatever sort realizes the local Langlands correspondence, as an identity of virtual representations

$$\sigma _{n,F}(\pi )=\pm [Hom_{G_n}(H_c(),\pi )]:=\pm \underset{i}{}(1)^iHom_{G_n}(H_c^i(),\pi ).$$
$`2.1`$
We add a third group to the picture by taking $`J`$ to be an inner form of $`G_n`$, the multiplicative group of a central simple algebra $`D`$ over $`F`$ of dimension $`n^2`$, with Hasse invariant $`\frac{r_D}{n}`$. The set $`𝒜(n,F)`$ contains a subset $`𝒜_{(2)}(n,F)`$ of discrete series representations, character twists of those realized in the regular representation on $`L_2(G_n)`$ (modulo center). The set $`𝒜(J)`$ of equivalence classes of irreducible admissible representations contains an analogous subset $`𝒜_{(2)}(J)`$, equal to $`𝒜(J)`$ if $`D`$ is a division algebra. The Jacquet-Langlands correspondence  \[R,DKV\] is a bijection $`JL:𝒜_{(2)}(G_n)\stackrel{}{}𝒜_{(2)}(J)`$ determined by the identity of distribution characters

$$\chi _\pi (g)=\epsilon (J)\chi _{JL(\pi )}(j),\pi 𝒜_{(2)}(G)$$
$`2.2`$
if $`\epsilon (J)=\pm 1`$ is the Kottwitz sign and $`g`$ and $`j`$ are elliptic regular elements with the same eigenvalues. When $`r_D=1`$ there are two spaces $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F^n`$ and $`_{LT,F}^n`$ with natural $`G_n\times J`$-actions. The former is a countable union, indexed by $``$, of copies of the profinite étale cover $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F^{n,0}`$ of the rigid-analytic upper half space $`\mathrm{\Omega }_F^n=^{n1}(_p)^{n1}(F)`$, defined by Drinfeld in \[D2\]. The latter is the rigid generic fiber of the formal deformation space $`M_{LT,F}^n`$ of the one-dimensional height $`n`$ formal $`𝒪_F`$-module with Drinfeld level structures of all degrees \[D1\]. A relation analogous to (2.1) was conjectured by Carayol in \[C1\], with $`\pm =(1)^{n1}`$:

###### Theorem 2.3

For $`\pi `$ supercuspidal

$`\sigma ^\mathrm{\#}(\pi )JL(\pi )=\pm [Hom_{G_n}(H_c(\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F^n),\pi )]`$
$`\sigma ^\mathrm{\#}(\pi )\pi =\pm [Hom_J(H_c(_{LT,F}^n),JL(\pi ))].`$
The notation $`\sigma ^\mathrm{\#}(\pi )`$ indicates that $`\sigma (\pi )`$ has been twisted by an elementary factor. We use the rigid-analytic étale cohomology introduced by Berkovich \[B\] with coefficients in $`\overline{}_{\mathrm{}}`$, $`\mathrm{}p`$. For $`_{LT,F}^n`$ this can be interpreted as a space of vanishing cycles for the formal deformation space, viewed as a formal scheme over $`Spf(𝒪_F)`$. The case of $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F^n`$ was proved in \[H1\], using the existence of Shimura varieties admitting rigid-analytic uniformizations by $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F^n`$. This has recently been extended to $`F`$ of equal characteristic by Hausberger \[Hau\]. The case of $`_{LT,F}^n`$, again for $`\pi `$ supercuspidal, was initially treated by Boyer \[Bo\] in the equal-characteristic case. The analogous statement for $`F`$ $`p`$-adic, and for any $`\pi `$, is the logical starting point of the proof of Theorem 1.9 in \[HT\].

Theorem 2.3 is extended in \[HT\] to general $`\pi 𝒜_{(2)}(G)`$. The explicit formula for the alternating sum of the $`Hom_J(H_c^i(_{LT,F}^n),JL(\pi ))`$ is awkward but yields a simple expression for

$$\begin{array}{c}\underset{i,j}{}(1)^{i+j}Ext_G^j(Hom_J(H_c^i(_{LT,F}^n),JL(\pi )),\pi )\hfill \\ \hfill =\underset{i,j,k}{}(1)^{i+j+k}Ext_G^j(Ext_J^k(H_c^i(_{LT,F}^n),JL(\pi )),\pi )\end{array}$$
$`2.4`$
in terms of the semisimplification of $`\sigma (\pi )`$. An analogous conjectural expression for individual $`H_c^i(\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F)`$ has been circulating for several years and should appear in a forthcoming joint paper with Labesse. Faltings has proved \[F2\] that the spaces $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F`$ and $`_{LT,F}^n`$ become isomorphic after $`p`$-adic completion of the latter. Thus the two questions in the following problem reduce to a single question:

###### Problem 2

Determine the individual representations $`H_c^i()`$, and the spaces$`Ext_{G_n}^j(H_c^i(\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F),\pi )`$ and $`Hom_J(H_c^i(_{LT,F}^n),JL(\pi ))`$ for all $`i,j`$, all $`\pi 𝒜(n,F)`$. In particular, show that $`Ext_{G_n}^j(H_c^i(\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F),\pi )`$ vanishes unless there exists $`\pi ^{}𝒜_{(2)}(n,F)`$ such that $`\pi `$ and $`\pi ^{}`$ induce the same character of the Bernstein center.

The results of \[HT\] imply that, for any $`\pi 𝒜_{(2)}(n,F)`$, with Bernstein character $`\beta _\pi `$, the Bernstein center acts on $`_i(1)^iHom_J(H_c^i(_{LT,F}^n),JL(\pi ))`$ via $`\beta _\pi `$.

For $`\pi `$ supercuspidal it is known in all cases that the spaces in Problem 2 vanish for $`in1`$ (and for $`j0`$). This vanishing property should characterize supercuspidal $`\pi `$ among representations in $`𝒜_{(2)}(n,F)`$. When $`\pi `$ is the Steinberg representation, the $`H_c^i(\mathrm{\Omega }_F)`$, as well as the corresponding $`Ext`$ groups, are calculated explicitly in \[SS\]. The calculation in \[SS\] is purely local, whereas the vanishing outside the middle degree for $`\pi 𝒜_0(n,F)`$ is based on properties of automorphic forms.

###### Problem 3

Find a purely local proof of the vanishing property for $`\pi 𝒜_0(n,F)`$.

The covering group of $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F^{n,0}`$ over $`\mathrm{\Omega }_F^n`$ can be identified with the maximal compact subgroup $`J^0J`$. Thus $`H_c^i(\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F)`$ can be written as a sum $`_\tau H_c^i(\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F)[\tau ]`$ of its $`\tau `$-isotypic components, where $`\tau `$ runs over irreducible representations of $`J^0`$ or, equivalently, over inertial equivalence classes of representations of $`J`$. Closely related to Problem 3 is the following

###### Problem 4

Characterize $`\tau 𝒜(J)`$ such that $`JL^1(\tau )𝒜_0(n,F)`$. Equivalently, calculate the Jacquet functors of the $`G_n`$-spaces $`H_c^i(\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F)[\tau ]`$ geometrically, in terms of $`\tau `$.

When $`n`$ is prime $`JL^1(\tau )𝒜_0(n,F)`$ if and only if $`dim\tau >1`$; when $`dim\tau =1`$ $`JL^1(\tau )`$ is a twist of the Steinberg representation. For general $`n`$ practically nothing is known.

### Results of L. Fargues \[Fa\]

For certain classical $`F`$-groups $`G`$, Rapoport and Zink, using the deformation theory of $`p`$-divisible (Barsotti-Tate) groups, have defined pro-rigid analytic spaces $``$ admitting continuous $`G\times J\times W_E`$ actions on their $`\mathrm{}`$-adic cohomology, where $`J`$ is an inner form of $`G`$ and $`E`$, the reflex field of $``$, is a finite extension of $`F`$ \[RZ\]. In \[R\] Rapoport proposes a conjectural formula, which he attributes to Kottwitz, for the discrete series contribution to the virtual $`G\times J\times W_E`$-module $`[H()]=_i(1)^iH_c^i(,\overline{}_{\mathrm{}})`$. The pairs $`(G,J)`$ considered in \[RZ\] include $`(G_n,D^\times )`$ with general Hasse invariant $`\frac{r_D}{n}`$, $`G=J=GU(n)`$, the quasi-split unitary similitude group attached to the unramified quadratic extension of $`F`$, and the symplectic similitude group $`G=GSp(2n,F)`$.

###### Theorem 2.5 (Fargues)

Suppose $`F/_p`$ unramified, $`(G,J)=(G_n,D^\times )`$, with $`(r_D,n)=1`$. For any $`\pi 𝒜_0(n,F)`$ we have

$$\underset{i}{}(1)^iHom_J(H_c^i(,\overline{}_{\mathrm{}}),JL(\pi ))_0=\pm \pi ^\mathrm{?}\sigma (\pi )$$

up to a simple twist. Here the subscript <sub>0</sub> denotes the $`G`$-supercuspidal part and $`^\mathrm{?}`$ is a certain tensor product of exterior powers of $`\sigma (\pi )`$ with total weight $`r_D`$, depending on auxiliary data defining $``$.

This confirms the Kottwitz-Rapoport conjectures in the case in question. For $`G=J=GU(3)`$ Rogawski has defined a local Langlands correspondence via base change to $`GL(3)`$. In that case the supercuspidal representations of $`G`$ are grouped into $`L`$-packets. Fargues’s techniques apply to this case as well, and he obtains a version of the Kottwitz-Rapoport conjectures, more difficult to state than Theorem 2.5 (higher $`Ext`$’s are involved, and the formula is averaged over $`L`$-packets).<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1The statement of the general Kottwitz-Rapoport conjectures in \[H3\] for general discrete series representations is based on a misreading of Rapoport’s use of the term “discrete $`L`$ parameter”. The correct conjecture should involve the analogue of the alternating sum on the right-hand side of (2.4), with $`JL(\pi )`$ replaced by $`\pi ^{}`$ in the $`L`$-packet associated to $`\pi `$. More generally, Fargues’ methods apply to classical groups attached to Shimura varieties, whenever the trace formula is known to be stable and functorial transfer from $`G`$ to $`GL(n)`$ has been established.

In contrast to \[HT\], Fargues’ methods are essentially rigid-analytic, and make no use of equivariant regular integral models of Shimura varieties in wildly ramified level – fortunately so, since such models are not known to exist. Heuristically, the characters of the representations of $`G`$ and $`J`$ on $`[H()]`$ can be related by applying a Lefschetz trace formula to $`\mathrm{}`$-adic cohomology of the rigid space $``$. This approach, which in principle provides no information about the $`W_F`$ action, has been successfully applied to $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F^n`$ by Faltings in \[F1\], and to $`M_{LT,F}^n`$ by Strauch \[S\] when $`n=2`$. For higher $`M_{LT,F}^n`$, and for the Rapoport-Zink spaces studied by Fargues, one does not yet know how to deal with wild boundary terms in Huber’s Lefschetz formula \[Hu\] and its higher-dimensional generalizations.

Using work of Oort and Zink on stratification of families of abelian varieties and the slope filtration for $`p`$-divisible groups, Mantovan \[M\] has developed another approach to the cohomology of Shimura varieties of PEL type. Closer in spirit to \[HT\] than to \[F\], \[M\] obtains finer results on the geometry of the special fiber and a description of the cohomology in ramified level similar to that of \[F\].

### Cohomological realizations with torsion coefficients

It would be convenient if the following question had an affirmative answer:

###### Question 5

Is $`H_c^i(\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F^n,_{\mathrm{}})`$ a torsion-free $`_{\mathrm{}}`$-module?

The global trace formula methods used in \[H1\] and \[HT\] to derive Theorem 2.3 from an analysis of the cohomology of the “simple” Shimura varieties of the title of \[K\] are insensitive to torsion in cohomology. When $`\mathrm{}>n`$ it may be possible, as in recent work of Mokrane and Tilouine, to combine $`\mathrm{}`$-adic Hodge theory with the generalized Eichler-Shimura congruence formula, for the same “simple” Shimura varieties, to answer Question 5. For $`\mathrm{}n`$ completely new ideas are needed.

When $`k`$ is an algebraically closed field of characteristic $`\mathrm{}p`$, Vignéras has defined a class of smooth supercuspidal representations $`𝒜_{0,k}(n,F)`$ of $`G_n`$ with coefficients in $`k`$, and has proved that they are in bijection with the set $`𝒢_{0,k}(n,F)`$ of irreducible $`n`$-dimensional representations of $`W_F`$ over $`k`$ (see article in these Proceedings). It is natural to expect that this modular local Langlands correspondence is realized on the spaces $`H_c^{}(,k)`$, with $`=\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F^n`$ or $`_{LT,F}^n`$.

###### Problem 6

Define a modular Jacquet-Langlands map $`\pi JL(\pi )`$ from $`𝒜_{0,k}(n,F)`$ to $`k`$-representations of $`J`$, and formulate the last sentence precisely. Does the virtual $`W_F`$-module

$$(1)^{n1}\underset{i,j,k}{}(1)^{i+j+k}Ext_G^j(Ext_J^k(H_c^i(,k),JL(\pi )),\pi )$$

realize the modular local Langlands correspondence?

Implicit in the second question is the assumption that the modular Jacquet-Langlands map can be extended to a wider class of $`k`$-representations of $`G_n`$, perhaps including reduction $`(mod\mathrm{})`$ of supercuspidal representations in characteristic zero. One can of course ask the same questions when $`\mathrm{}=p`$. In this case we can consider rigid (de Rham) cohomology, in the sense of Berthelot, as well as $`p`$-adic étale cohomology. All three groups $`G_n`$, $`J`$, and $`W_F`$ have large analytic families of $`p`$-adic representations. It is not at all clear whether the $`p`$-adic cohomology of $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F^n`$ is sufficiently rich to account for all $`p`$-adic deformations – in categories yet to be defined – of a given representation occurring in cohomology with coefficients in $`\overline{𝔽}_p`$.

## 3. Explicit parametrization of supercuspidal representations

### Distribution characters

The distribution character $`\chi _\pi `$, a locally integrable function on the set of regular semisimple elements of $`G_n=GL(n,F)`$, is the fundamental analytic invariant of $`\pi 𝒜(n,F)`$. For $`\pi 𝒜_{(2)}(n,F)`$, $`\chi _{JL(\pi )}`$, related to $`\chi _\pi `$ by (2.2), extends continuously to an invariant function on $`J=D^\times `$ provided $`(r_D,n)=1`$, which we assume. Under this hypothesis every element of $`J`$ is elliptic and every elliptic regular element $`j`$ is contained in a unique maximal torus $`T(j)`$, isomorphic to the multiplicative group of an extension $`K`$ of $`F`$ of degree $`n`$. Since $`JL(\pi )`$ is finite-dimensional, its restriction to $`T(j)`$ equals $`_\xi a_\pi (\xi )\xi `$ where $`\xi `$ runs over characters of $`K_j^\times `$ and the coefficients $`a_\pi (\xi )=a_\pi (K,\xi )`$ are non-negative integers, almost all zero. In this way $`\pi 𝒜_{(2)}(n,F)`$ is determined by the integer-valued function $`a_\pi (K,\xi )`$ where $`K`$ runs over degree $`n`$ extensions of $`F`$ and $`\xi `$ over characters of $`K^\times `$. Invariance entails the symmetry condition $`a_\pi (K^{},^\sigma \xi )=a_\pi (K,\xi )`$ where $`\sigma :K\stackrel{}{}K^{}`$ is an isomorphism over $`F`$; in particular, if $`\sigma Aut_F(K)`$.

###### Problem 7

Express $`a_\pi (K,\xi )`$ in terms of numerical invariants of $`\sigma (\pi )`$.

Of course $`a_\pi (K,\xi )=0`$ unless $`\xi |_{F^\times }`$ coincides with the central character $`\xi _\pi `$ of $`\pi `$. When $`n=2`$ $`a_\pi (K,\xi )\{0,1\}`$, and a theorem of Tunnell, completed by H. Saito, relates the nonvanishing of $`a_\pi (K,\xi )`$ to the local constant $`\epsilon (\frac{1}{2},\sigma (\pi )\xi ^1,\psi )`$. For $`n`$ prime to $`p`$ a conjecture of Reimann, following an earlier conjecture of Moy, expresses $`\chi _\pi `$ in terms of $`\sigma (\pi )`$; work in progress of Bushnell and Henniart shows that this conjecture is almost right (probably up to an unramified character of degree at two).

### Parametrization via types

A fundamental theorem of Bushnell and Kutzko asserts that every supercuspidal $`\pi `$ can be obtained by compactly supported induction from a finite-dimensional representation $`\tau `$ of a subgroup $`HG_n`$ which is compact modulo the center $`Z_n`$ of $`G_n`$. The pair $`(H,\rho )`$, called an extended type, is unique up to conjugation by $`G_n`$. The character $`\chi _\pi `$ can be obtained from $`(H,\rho )`$ by a simple integral formula \[BH, (A.14)\].

The outstanding open problem concerning the local Langlands correspondence is undoubtedly

###### Problem 8

(a) Define $`\sigma (\pi )`$ directly in terms of $`(H,\rho )`$ (and vice versa).

(b) Show directly that the definition of $`\sigma `$ in (a) has the properties of a local Langlands correspondence.

Note that (b) presupposes a direct construction of the local Galois constants.

Problem 8 formulates the hope, often expressed, for a purely local construction of the local Langlands correspondence. Bushnell, Henniart, and Kutzko have made considerable progress toward this goal. Among other results, they have obtained:

In each instance, the constructions and proofs are based primarily on the theory of types. A complete solution of Problem 8 remains elusive, however, absent a better understanding of the local Galois constants.

###### Question 9

Can the types $`(H,\rho )`$ be realized in the cohomology ($`\mathrm{}`$-adic or $`p`$-adic) of appropriate analytic subspaces of $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_F^n`$ or $`_{LT,F}^n`$?

Positive results for certain $`(H,\rho )`$ have been announced by Genestier and Strauch, at least when $`n=2`$.

Acknowledgments. I thank R. Taylor, G. Henniart, and L. Fargues for their comments on earlier versions of this report.

## References

More or less detailed accounts of the history of the local Langlands conjecture, and of its proofs, can already be found in the literature: \[Rd\] and \[Ku\] describe the problem and the work of Bernstein and Zelevinsky, while the proofs are outlined in \[C2,C3\], \[He4\], \[W\], as well as the introduction to \[HT\].