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tidy up LaTeX
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kbuzzard committed Oct 15, 2024
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Expand Up @@ -8,28 +8,44 @@ \section{Introduction and goal}
finite-dimensional. We need this to control the Hecke algebras which we'll define
later on using these spaces.

Let's start with the definition of these spaces. We fix a totally real field $F$
(that is, a number field $F$ such that the image of every ring homomorphism $F\to\bbC$
is a subset of $\R$). We fix a quaternion algebra $D$ over $F$. This means
the following: $D$ is an $F$-algebra of dimension 4, the centre of $D$ is $F$,
and $D$ has no nontrivial two-sided ideals. Examples of quaternion algebras
would be 2 by 2 matrices $M_2(F)$ over $F$, or the $F$ version of Hamilton's quaternions,
namely $F\oplus Fi\oplus Fj\oplus Fk$ with the usual laws $i^2=j^2=k^2=-1$ and
$ij=-ji=k$.
Let's start with the definition of these spaces.

Let $K$ be a field. A \emph{central simple $K$-algebra} is a $K$-algebra~$D$ with
centre $K$ such that $D$ has no nontrivial two-sided ideals. A \emph{quaternion algebra}
over $K$ is a central simple $K$-algebra of dimension~4.

Matrix algebras $M_n(K)$ are examples of central simple $K$-algebras, so
$2\times 2$ matrices $M_2(K)$ are an example of a quaternion algebra over $K$.
If $K=\bbC$ then $M_2(\bbC)$ is the only example, up to isomorphism, but there are
two examples over the reals, the other being Hamilton's quaternions
$\bbH:=\R\oplus\R i\oplus\R j\oplus\R k$ with the usual rules $i^2=j^2=k^2=-1$,
$ij=-ji=k$ etc. For a general field $K$ one can make an analogue of Hamilton's
quaternions $K\oplus Ki\oplus Kj\oplus Kk$ with these same rules to describe the
multiplication, and if the characteristic of~$K$ isn't 2 then this is a quaternion algebra
(which may or may not be isomorphic to $M_2(K)$). If $K$ is a number field then there are
infinitely many isomorphism classes of quaternion algebras over $K$.

A fundamental fact about central simple algebras is that if $D/K$
is a central simple $K$-algebra and $L/K$ is an extension of fields, then $D\otimes_KL$
is a central simple $L$-algebra. In particular if $D$ is a quaternion algebra over $K$
then $D\otimes_KL$ is a quaternion algebra over $L$. Some Imperial students have established
this fact in ongoing project work.

We now fix a totally real field $F$ (that is, a number field $F$ such that the image of every ring
homomorphism $F\to\bbC$ is a subset of $\R$). We fix a quaternion algebra $D$ over $F$. We
furthermore assume that $D$ is \emph{totally definite}, that is, that for all field embeddings
$\tau:F\to\R$ we have $D\otimes_{F,\tau}\R\cong\bbH$.

The high-falutin' explanation of what is about to happen is that $D^\times$
can be regarded as a reductive algebraic group over $F$, and we are going to define spaces
can be regarded as a reductive algebraic group over $F$, and in the special case where
we are going to define spaces
of automorphic forms for this algebraic group. In general such a definition would
involve some analysis (for example modular forms are automorphic forms for the
algebraic group $\GL_2$ over $\Q$, and the definition of a modular form involves
holomorphic functions, which are solutions to the Cauchy--Riemann equations).
However let us now make the assumption that $D$ is
\emph{totally definite}, which means that for every field map $\tau:F\to\R$,
the base extension $D\otimes_{F,\tau}\R$ along $\tau$ (which is a quaternion algebra
over the reals) is isomorphic to Hamilton's quaternions
$\R\oplus \R i\oplus\R j\oplus\R k$ rather than the other quaternion algebra
over the reals, namely $M_2(\R)$. Under this assumption the associated symmetric space
is 0-dimensional, meaning that no differential equations are involved in the definition
However under the assumption that $F$ is totally real and $D/F$ is totally definite,
the associated symmetric space is 0-dimensional, meaning that no differential equations are
involved in the definition
of an automorphic form in this setting. As a consequence, the definition we're about to give
makes sense not just over the complex numbers but over any commutative ring $R$, which will
be crucial for us as we will need to think about, for example, mod~$p$ automorphic forms in this
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