On the Density of Low Lying Zeros of a Large Family of Automorphic $L$-functions

TL;DR

This paper extends the understanding of low lying zeros of automorphic L-functions under GRH, improving the known support ranges for density predictions and revealing new phenomena through advanced moment analysis.

Contribution

It generalizes techniques to higher moments of the one-level density, improving support bounds and providing new insights into the behavior of zeros near the central point.

Findings

Support range for n-th moments improved to $rac{3}{2}(n-1)$ for $n=3$

Two-level density matches Katz-Sarnak predictions for larger support

Different test functions extend the validity range of density conjectures

Abstract

Under the generalized Riemann Hypothesis (GRH), Baluyot, Chandee, and Li nearly doubled the range in which the density of low lying zeros predicted by Katz and Sarnak is known to hold for a large family of automorphic $L$-functions with orthogonal symmetry. We generalize their main techniques to the study of higher centered moments of the one-level density of this family, leading to better results on the behavior near the central point. Numerous technical obstructions emerge that are not present in the one-level density. Averaging over the level of the forms and assuming GRH, we prove the density predicted by Katz and Sarnak holds for the $n$-th centered moments for test functions whose Fourier transform is compactly supported in $(-\sigma, \sigma)$ for $\sigma~=~\min\left\{3/2(n-1), 4/(2n-\mathbf{1}_{2\nmid n})\right\}$. For $n=3$, our results improve the previously best known $\sigma=2/3$ to $\sigma=3/4$. We also prove the two-level density agrees with the Katz-Sarnak density conjecture for test functions whose Fourier transform is compactly supported in $\sigma_1 = 3/2$ and $\sigma_2 = 5/6$, respectively, extending the previous best known sum of supports $\sigma_1 + \sigma_2 = 2$. This work is the first evidence of an interesting new phenomenon: by taking different test functions, we are able to extend the range in which the Katz-Sarnak density predictions hold. The techniques we develop can be applied to understanding quantities related to this family containing sums over multiple primes.