J. reine angew. Math.

596 (2006), 131—152 Journal für die reine und

DOI 10.1515/CRELLE.2006.056 angewandte Mathematik
( Walter de Gruyter
Berlin
New York 2006

The m-invariant of anticyclotomic L-functions of

imaginary quadratic fields
By Tobias Finis at Leipzig

Abstract. This paper considers the one-variable p-adic L-function which interpo-
lates the L-values of anticyclotomic Hecke characters of an imaginary quadratic field K in
which p splits. Fixing such a character with root number þ1, the Iwasawa m-invariant of
the associated branch of the p-adic L-function is computed as a sum of simple local contri-
butions at the inert primes of K. The proof uses a result of Tonghai Yang to relate the p-
adic L-function to a measure constructed out of the special values of theta functions with
complex multiplication by K.

1. Introduction

The Iwasawa m-invariant vp ðmÞ of a p-adic measure m on a p-adic topological group,

p a prime, is the minimum value assumed by the normalized valuations of the measures of
open subsets. It is non-trivial precisely if the reduction of the measure modulo the maximal
ideal vanishes. In the classical case of the Kubota-Leopoldt p-adic L-function, Iwasawa
conjectured and Ferrero and Washington [FeW] proved the vanishing of the m-invariant
of any branch. By the class number formula this result is related to divisibility properties
of class numbers in the cyclotomic Zp -extensions of abelian number fields. In fact, let F
be an abelian number field, and Fy ¼ F Qy its cyclotomic Zp -extension with unique inter-
mediate extensions Fn =F of degree p n . The vanishing of the m-invariant of Fy =F implies
then by a well-known result of Iwasawa that the p-part of the class number hn of Fn grows
linearly (not exponentially) with n for n ! y.

This paper considers the case of an imaginary quadratic field K and a prime p split in
K. Since the maximal abelian pro-p-extension of K has rank two, in this situation one can
consider several possible Zp -extensions. Gillard [Gi1], [Gi2] and independently Schneps
[Sch] proved the vanishing of the m-invariant of the one-variable p-adic L-function, i.e. for
the Zp -extension in which precisely one of the primes of K lying above p is ramified. Here
we are considering the anticyclotomic Zp -extension and anticyclotomic Hecke characters.

The main result will be phrased in terms of p-adic L-functions for the field K. For a
prime p, split in K, fix embeddings iy : Q ,! C and ip : Q ,! Cp . We consider K as a sub-
132 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields

field of Q. Then the choice of the embedding ip distinguishes a prime ideal p of oK above p
and we have poK ¼ pp. Let D be the absolute value of the discriminant of K, and d A oK the
unique square root of D with Im iy ðdÞ > 0. To define periods, consider an elliptic curve
E with complex multiplication by oK , defined over some number field M L Q, and a non-
vanishing invariant di¤erential o on E. Given a pair ðE; oÞ, we may extend the field of
definition to C via iy , and (after replacing E by a Galois conjugate, if necessary) obtain a
non-zero complex number Wy , uniquely determined up to units in K, such that the period
lattice of o on E is given by Wy oK . Since E has good reduction at the p-adic place P of
M defined by ip , we can normalize o by demanding that it reduces modulo P to a non-
vanishing invariant di¤erential on the reduced curve E. Fix the pair ðE; oÞ and the result-
ing period Wy .

Consider (in general non-unitary) Hecke characters l of K. If the infinity component

of l is ly ðxÞ ¼ xk xj for integers k and j, we say that l has infinity type ðk; jÞ. Precisely
for k < 0 and j f 0 or k f 0 and j < 0 the L-value Lð0; lÞ is critical in the sense of De-
ligne. In this case it is known that p maxð j; kÞ Wjkjj
y Lð0; lÞ is an algebraic number in C.

The functional equation relates Lð0; lÞ to Lð0; l  Þ, where the dual l  of l is defined
by l ðxÞ ¼ lðxÞ1 jxjAK . We call a Hecke character l anticyclotomic if l ¼ l  . This implies


that its infinity type ðk; jÞ satisfies k þ j ¼ 1, and that its restriction to AQ is oK=Q j
jA
for the quadratic character oK=Q associated to the extension K=Q. These will be the char-
acters considered in this paper. Let W ðlÞ be the root number appearing in the functional
equation for Lð0; lÞ. For an anticyclotomic character we have W ðlÞ ¼ G1. We also need to
introduce p-adic root numbers. For this, define for a prime ideal q and an element d q A Kq
with d q oKq ¼ doKq the local Gauss sum at q by
P eðqÞ
Gðd q ; lq Þ ¼ lð$eðqÞ
q Þ lq ðuÞeK ð$q d q1 uÞ;
u A ðoK =q eðqÞ Þ

if lq is ramified, and set Gðd q ; lq Þ ¼ 1 otherwise. Here eðqÞ is the exponent of q in the con-
ductor of l, $q is a prime element of Kq , and eK is the additive character of AK =K defined
by eK ¼ eQ  TrK=Q in terms of the standard additive character eQ of A=Q normalized by
eQ ðxy Þ ¼ e 2pixy . The p-adic root number of l is then

Wp ðlÞ ¼ peðpÞ Gðd; l p Þ:

It is well known that there exists a (two-variable) p-adic L-function interpolating the
algebraic parts of the critical values Lð0; lÞ for l of infinity type ðk; jÞ, k < 0, j f 0. It
has been constructed by Manin-Vishik, by Katz and others. Here we are considering its
one-variable restriction to anticyclotomic characters. Using the setup of [HidT] as a refer-
ence, we know that
for any positive
 integer d there is a measure m on the Galois group
GðdDpy Þ ¼ Gal KðdDpy Þ=K such that for anticyclotomic characters l of infinity type
ðk; k  1Þ, k f 1, conductor dividing dDpy but divisible by all prime ideals dividing dD,
we have
 
Ð 2p k1
2
Wp12k l^ dm ¼ Wy
12k
ðk  1Þ! pffiffiffiffi Wp ðlÞ 1  lðpÞ Lð0; lÞ:
GðdDpy Þ D

Here Wp is a certain unit in Cp , the p-adic period (cf. [HidT], p. 211, for its definition),
and l^ the

1p-adic

avatar of l defined by Weil: if l has infinity type ðk; jÞ, one sets
^ k j
lðxÞ ¼ ip iy lðxÞ xp xp for x A AK; f and obtains a character of AK; f =K  .
 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields 133

Define the anticyclotomic quotient G  ¼ G  ðdDpy Þ of GðdDpy Þ as the quotient of

this group by the image of G Q ðdDpy Þ under the canonical transfer homomorphism, and
let W be the torsion-free part of G  (i.e. the quotient of G  by its torsion subgroup). As
a topological group, W F Zp . For
Ð any anticyclotomic
Ð character l as above, a measure
ml on W can then be defined by f dml ¼ f l^ dm for continuous functions f on W , using
the projection G ! W . W G

The main result of this paper is the determination of the m-invariants


vp ðml Þ ¼ min vp ml ðUÞ
ULW open

of these measures, where vp denotes the normalized valuation on Cp . They turn out
to depend on the local components lq at inert primes q. For such an inert prime q

and a character
wq of K  q define mp ðwq Þ by mp ðwq Þ ¼ 0 if wq is unramified, and
mp ðwq Þ ¼ min

vp wq ðxÞ  1 otherwise.
x A oK q

Theorem 1.1. Let p be an odd prime split in K and l an anticyclotomic character of

infinity type ðk; k  1Þ, k f 1, and root number W ðlÞ ¼ þ1. Then the m-invariant of the
measure ml is equal to
P
ð1Þ vp ðml Þ ¼ mp ðlq Þ:
q inert in K
In the case W ðlÞ ¼ 1 we have ml ¼ 0 from the functional equation.

Note that in contrast to the case of Dirichlet L-functions (and the case dealt with
by Gillard and Schneps) the m-invariant does not vanish in general, although this is true
for example if we restrict to characters l with no inert prime q 1 1ðpÞ dividing the con-
ductor of l with multiplicity one. That a restriction of this type is necessary was first indi-
cated by examples of Iwasawa [Iw]. As was observed by Gillard [Gi3], the non-vanishing
of the m-invariant vp ðml Þ in the case where mp ðlq Þ > 0 for some inert prime q follows easily
from the general interpolation property of the measure m on GðdDpy Þ [HidT], p. 193,
which includes characters unramified at an inert prime qjd, and involves in this case an ex-
tra Euler factor 1  lðqÞ ¼ 1 þ q1 on the right-hand side. If now mp ðlq Þ > 0, we have
vp ðl^  l^0 Þ f mp ðlq Þ for a character l^0 unramified at q, which implies corresponding con-
gruences for the twists of l by finite order characters
Ð f of W , and therefore the lower bound
mp ðlq Þ for the valuations of the integrals f dml. In fact, a consideration of root numbers
W
shows that ml 0 ¼ 0. By the Weierstrass preparation theorem this means that we need to
have vp ðml Þ f mp ðlq Þ.

The method used to obtain our result is based on ideas of Sinnott [Si], who gave an
algebraic proof of the theorem of Ferrero and Washington. Sinnott’s strategy starts from
the fact that Dirichlet L-values are closely connected to rational functions, which allows
him to derive the non-vanishing modulo p of the p-adic L-function from an algebraic inde-
pendence result. Gillard and Schneps transferred this method to functions on an elliptic
curve with complex multiplication by oK . Here we follow the strategy of [Fi] and use a re-
sult of Yang [Y] which connects anticyclotomic L-values to special values of theta functions
on such an elliptic curve. In [Fi] this connection was exploited to study the divisibility of
Lð0; lÞ by a prime l 3 p. This paper follows the earlier one in its outline, while adding es-
sentially two new elements: the construction of the p-adic measure and the consideration of
134 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields

group schemes of multiplicative type at the end. Proofs given in the earlier paper are not
repeated. The current paper is structured as follows: in Section 2 we summarize the basic
facts about theta functions, the Shintani representation and Yang’s theorem. In Section 3
we give the arithmetic theory of theta functions and use it to construct a theta measure.
Then it is shown that the anticyclotomic p-adic L-function is given by a constant multiple
of the square of this theta measure. (We remark that in a special case such a construction of
the p-adic L-function has been obtained in a somewhat di¤erent way in [So].) In Section 4
we finally show that the m-invariant of the theta measure vanishes.

Recently, Hida [Hid] has considered the m-invariant problem more generally for p-
adic L-functions of CM fields, using directly the connection to special values of Hilbert
modular Eisenstein series at CM points. Although it is likely that his methods, when fully
exploited, are able to cover our result, we hope that our completely di¤erent approach is of
independent interest.

I would like to thank the members of the Laboratoire Analyse, Géometrie et Appli-
cations of the Institut Galilée, Université Paris 13, especially Jacques Tilouine, for their
hospitality in 2004. An essential part of this paper was worked out there, and its main result
was presented in the LAGA seminar.

We keep the notation introduced so far. In addition, let wK denote the number of
units in K, and nðDÞ the number of distinct prime divisors of D. We also denote by
ip ¼ ip jK and ip the two embeddings of K into Qp .

2. Theta functions with complex multiplication and anticyclotomic L-values

In this section we give a summary of the basic theory of primitive theta functions and
Shintani operators [Shin], [GlR], [MS], and explain the connection to anticyclotomic L-
values, which is a reformulation of results of Yang [Y]. For more details see [Fi], Section 2.

Theta functions with complex multiplication. We first define the basic objects of this
paper: the theta functions associated to the field K. For more background on theta func-
tions see [Ig], [Mum2], [Mum3]. A geometric reformulation of the theory will be given in
Section 3. Given a positive rational number r and a fractional ideal a of K such that rNðaÞ
is integral, the space Tr; a consists out of all holomorphic functions Q on C satisfying the
functional equation

ð2Þ Qðw þ lÞ ¼ cðlÞe2pirdlðwþl=2Þ QðwÞ; l A a;

2
where cðlÞ ¼ ð1Þ rDjlj is a semi-character on a. It is standard that dim Tr; a ¼ rDNðaÞ.

For l A C and any complex-valued function f on C define

ð3Þ ðAl f ÞðwÞ ¼ e 2pirdlðwþl=2Þ f ðw þ lÞ:

The operators Al fulfill the basic commutation relation

Al1 Al2 ¼ e pir Trðdl1 l 2 Þ Al1 þl2 :

 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields 135

1
For l A a  ¼ rNðaÞD a, the dual lattice of a, the operator Al is an endomorphism of
Tr; a , and it acts by multiplication by cðlÞ if l A a. We may reformulate these facts in
the language of group representations. Introduce a group structure on the set
of pairs 
ðl; lÞ A C  C by setting ðl1 ; l1 Þðl2 ; l2 Þ ¼ ðl1 þ l2 ; l1 l2 e 2pir Reðdl1 l 2 Þ Þ. The pairs l; cðlÞ ,
l A a, form a subgroup isomorphic to a, whose normalizer is the set of all pairs ðl; lÞ

with

l A a . Define  a group Gr; a as the quotient of this normalizer by the subgroup
l; cðlÞ j l A a . The group Gr; a is a Heisenberg group, i.e. it fits into an exact sequence

1 ! C ! Gr; a ! A ! 0

with the abelian group A ¼ a  =a, and its center is precisely the image of C . Mapping ðl; lÞ
to lAl defines now clearly a representation of Gr; a on Tr; a , and it is well-known that this
representation is irreducible.

The standard scalar product on Tr; a is defined by

2 Ð
ð4Þ hQ1 ; Q 2 i ¼ pffiffiffiffi ðAu Q1 Þð0ÞðAu Q 2 Þð0Þ du:
DNðaÞ C=a

The operators Al are unitary with respect to this scalar product.

It will be necessary to deal simultaneously with all spaces Tr; a for a ranging over the
ideal classes
Q of K. Define for a positive integer d the space Td as the space of families
ðta Þ A Td=NðaÞ; a satisfying
a A IK

tla ðlwÞ ¼ ta ðwÞ; l A K :

After choosing
La system of representatives A for the ideal classes of K we get an isomor-
1 1
phism Td F Td=NðaÞ; a , where Tr; a L Tr; a denotes the subspace of theta functions Q in-
aAA
variant under the action
P of the roots of unity in K. The standard scalar product on Td is
given by hQ; Q 0 i ¼ hQ a ; Qa0 i.
aAA

Finally, using the natural exact sequence of genus theory

N
1 ! ClK2 ! ClK ! NðIK Þ=NðK  Þ ! 1;

for any class C A NðIK Þ=NðK  Þ we define a subspace Vd; C of Td by restricting a to the pre-
image of C.

Review of Shintani theory. We now define the subspaces of primtive theta functions
and the Shintani representation. For each pair of ideals b M a such that rNðbÞ is integral,
there is a natural inclusion Tr; b ,! Tr; a . Its adjoint with respect
P to the standard inner pro-
duct is the trace operator tb : Tr; a ! Tr; b defined by tb ¼ cðlÞAl . The space of primitive
theta functions Tr;prim
a L Tr; a is then defined as
l A b=a

T T
Tr;prim
a ¼ ker tb ¼ ker tac1 :
bIa; rNðbÞ integral cHoK ; NðcÞ j rNðaÞ
136 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields

It is the orthogonal complement of the span of the images of all inclusions Tr; b ,! Tr; a with
b I a; rNðbÞ integral. Correspondingly, the space Tdprim is the space of all families ðta Þ A Td
prim prim
with ta A Td=NðaÞ; a for all a, and in the same way one defines Vd; C L Vd; C .

Now let b A IK1 , the group of norm one ideals of K, and let c be the unique integral
ideal with c þ c ¼ oK and b ¼ cc1 . Then the composition

tacc1
Tr; a ,! Tr; ac ! Tr; acc1

is a linear operator called EðbÞ. Varying a, these operators induce an endomorphism of

Vd; C , also denoted by EðbÞ. We call these operators Shintani operators. For h A K 1 we
can construct an endomorphism EðhÞ of Tr; a by composing EððhÞÞ : Tr; a ! Tr; ha with
the isomorphism m h : Tr; ha F Tr; a given by Q a ðwÞ ¼ Q ha ðhwÞ (these are the operators con-
sidered in [GlR]). The operators EðhÞ have the fundamental commutation prop-
erty EðhÞAhl ¼ Al EðhÞ for l A a  X h1 a  [GlR], p. 72.

A slight modification of these operators gives a group representation. Any fractional

ideal c of K can be uniquely written as c ¼ cc 0 with a positive rational number c and an
integral ideal c 0 such that p F c 0 for any rational prime p. For a positive integer d let
gd ðcÞ ¼ NðcÞ1 coK=Q ðcÞ for c prime to dD, and extend the definition to all fractional
ideals c by stipulating that gd ðcÞ depends only on the prime-to-dD part of c. Then define
F  ðcÞ : Tr; a ! Tr; acc 1 by F  ðcÞ ¼ grNðaÞ ðcÞEðcc 1 Þ for all c with cc 1 prime to rNðaÞ.
These modified operators are multiplicative and yield in particular a representation of the
group of all ideals c with cc 1 prime to d on Vd; C which leaves the primitive subspace Vd;prim
C
invariant.

In the same way we obtain a representation of the group of all z A K  with z=z prime
to rNðaÞ on Tr; a by setting F  ðzÞ ¼ grNðaÞ ððzÞÞEðz=zÞ. These notions are clearly compati-
ble: the action of F  ððzÞÞ on Vd; C is given by the action of F  ðzÞ on the components in
Td=NðaÞ; a , therefore the components of Shintani eigenfunctions are eigenfunctions. On the
other hand, if a Shintani eigenfunction in Tr; a is invariant under the roots of unity, it ex-
tends in hK =2 nðDÞ1 many ways to a Shintani eigenfunction in VrNðaÞ; NðaÞNðK  Þ .

Description of the Shintani representation. The representation F  on Vd; C just de-

fined decomposes into Hecke characters of K. In fact, one can give a complete description
of the decomposition depending on epsilon factors (cf. [R], [HKS], [MS]). The following
proposition and its corollary are specializations of Proposition 2.2 and Corollary 2.3 of
[Fi]. Recall the definition of the Gauss sums Gðd q ; lq Þ given in the introduction, and set
Wq ðlÞ ¼ Wq ðlq Þ ¼ NðqÞeðqÞ Gðd; lq Þ for all non-split primes q, where q denotes the
unique prime ideal of K above q, and eðqÞ the exponent of q in the conductor of l. For
anticyclotomic characters l we have Wq ðlÞ ¼ G1 for all non-split q, Wq ðlÞQ¼ ð1Þ vq ðfl Þ
for all inert q, where fl is the conductor of l [MS], Prop. 3.7, and W ðlÞ ¼ Wq ðlÞ if l
q
has infinity type ð1; 0Þ.

Proposition 2.1. A Hecke character l of K with ljA ¼ oK=Q j
jA appears in the rep-
resentation F  on Vd;prim
C if and only if the following conditions are satisfied. If it appears, it
has multiplicity one.
 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields 137

(i) l has infinity type ð1; 0Þ.

(ii) The conductor fl of l is equal to dDd1

l , where dl is a square-free product of rami-
fied primes. (We then have automatically dl þ doK ¼ oK .)

(iii) For each prime qjD and a representative c A Q for the class C we have

ð5Þ Wq ðlÞ ¼ oK=Q; q ðd=cÞ:

If we consider the whole space Vd; C instead of the primitive subspace, we have to change
the second condition into fl ¼ ðdt1 ÞDd1l , where tjd is the norm of an integral ideal of K.
The multiplicity may then be greater than one.

Corollary 2.2. A Hecke character l of K with ljA ¼ oK=Q j
jA occurs in the decom-
position of F  on one of the spaces Tdprim , d > 0, if and only if l has infinity type ð1; 0Þ and
the global root number W ðlÞ is equal to þ1. If these conditions are fulfilled, the character
occurs with multiplicity one in precisely one of the spaces Vd;prim
C .

These statements are closely connected to the existence of operators Fq ðzq Þ on Tr; a
for q ¼ y or q j rNðaÞ, zq A Kq for q non-split, zq A Qq o
K q for q split, such that Fy ðzÞ ¼ z
and we have the factorization

Q
F  ðzÞ1 ¼ Fy ðzÞ Fq ðzÞ; z A K  X LrNðaÞD :
q j rNðaÞD

Q Q
Here we set L dD ¼ K q Q   
q oK q . The restriction of Fq ðzq Þ to Qq is given by the
q j ydinert D q j dsplit
scalar oK=Q; q ðzÞjzjq . For an eigenfunction Q A Vd; C with eigencharacter l of conductor di-
 Q 
viding dD, the restriction ljL dD is given by the action of Fy Fq on any component Q a .
qjdD

We remark that one obtains characters of infinity types ðk; k  1Þ, k f 1, if one also
considers vector valued theta functions (cf. [Fi]).

Connection to L-values (results of Yang). We now state a variant of a result of Yang

[Y] connecting theta functions with complex multiplication to special values of Hecke L-
functions of anticyclotomic characters. We define the linear functional l on Td by
P
ð6Þ lðQÞ ¼ Q a ð0Þ;
a

a ranging over a system of representatives for the ideal classes of K. The following propo-
sition repeats [Fi], Proposition 2.4, slightly specialized.

Proposition 2.3. Let Q A Vd;prim 

C be an eigenfunction of the Shintani operators F with
associated Hecke character l. Then
pffiffiffiffi
jlðQÞj 2 wK2 D Q
1
ð7Þ ¼ 1  oK=Q ðpÞp1 Lð0; lÞ:
hQ; Qi 4phK pjd
138 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields

3. Integral theta functions and the construction of a theta measure

Integral theta functions. We begin by giving a geometric interpretation of theta

functions, which implies the existence of integral structures on the spaces Tr; a and Vd; C .
Basic background references for the geometric theory of theta functions are [Mum1],
[Mum2], [Mum4]. For a fractional ideal a of K fix an elliptic curve Ea defined over a num-
ber field M L Q, which after extending scalars to C via iy has period lattice Wy; a a for
some complex period Wy; a . Over the complex numbers there is an analytic parametrization
Ea niy C F C=a, and for any rational number r such that rNðaÞ is integral we have a stan-
dard line bundle Lr;ana of degree rDNðaÞ over C=a. It is defined as Lr;ana ¼ ðC  CÞ=a with the
action of l A a given by


lðw; xÞ ¼ w þ l; cðlÞe2pirdlðwþl=2Þ x :

Clearly, the space of global sections GðC=a; Lr;ana Þ can be identified with Tr; a . There is a line
bundle L r; a on Ea defined over M, and unique up to isomorphism, such that after scalar
extension to C we have L r; a niy C F Lr;ana . We give L r; a a rigidification at the origin, i.e.
identify the subscheme of points above the origin with the a‰ne line. We fix the isomor-
phism of L r; a niy C and Lr;ana by demanding that it carries the rigidification of L r; a into
the canonical one of the analytic line bundle which
identifies the  class of ð0; xÞ with x.
These constructions give us an iy ðMÞ-vector space iy GðEa ; L r; a Þ of algebraic theta func-
tions inside Tr; a .

Since the curve Ea nip Cp has good reduction, we can extend Ea nip Cp and
L r; a nip Cp canonically to an elliptic curve Ea over the ring of integers O ¼ OðCp Þ and a
line bundle Lr; a on Ea . In particular, we can consider the O-module of integral sections
Tr; a ðOÞ ¼ GðEa ; Lr; a Þ inside the Cp -vector space Tr; a ðCp Þ ¼ GðEa nip Cp ; L r; a nip Cp Þ. As-
sume the rigidification normalized in such a way that the p-integral elements of the stalk of
L r;
a over the origin
 correspond to the p-integral points on the
a‰ne line. We then get an
iy ip1 ðOÞ X M -module of p-integral theta functions inside iy GðEa ; L r; a Þ . Since we will
not deal with rationality questions, we extend scalars from M to Q, and denote the result-
ing module by Tr;inta , and the space of algebraic (or arithmetic) theta functions by Tr;ara .
1
Clearly, Tr;inta maps into Tr; a ðOÞ via ip  iy , and we will identify Tr;inta with its image. Then
int
Tr; a ðOÞ is the p-adic completion of Tr; a .

We recall the geometric construction of the Heisenberg group and its action on theta
functions given by Mumford. Mumford’s Heisenberg group GðL r; a Þ [Mum1], p. 289, fits
into an exact sequence

1 ! Q ! GðL r; a Þ ! Ea ½rDNðaÞ ! 0


and acts on GðEa nM Q; L r; a nM QÞ [Mum1], p. 295. The set C iy GðL r; a Þ can
be identi-
fied with the analytically defined group Gr; a of Section 2. On the other hand, C
p ip GðL r; a Þ
is the set of Cp -points of a group scheme GðLr; a Þ over O for which we have an exact
sequence

1 ! Gm ! GðLr; a Þ ! Ea ½rDNðaÞ ! 0;
 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields 139

and a compatible action of GðLr; a Þ on Tr; a ðOÞ [Mum2], p. 225. It is then clear that the set
of
points of finite order of GðLr; a Þ over O is the same as the set of finite order elements of
ip GðL r; a Þ . It follows that the action of the operators Ax , x A a  , on Tr; a preserves the
space Tr;ara and the module Tr;inta .

The following lemma gives a simple characterization of the module of integral theta
functions in the spirit of Shimura (cf. [Shim], [Hic]).

Lemma 3.1. The space Tr;ara of arithmetic theta functions inside Tr; a consists out of all
functions Q A Tr; a such that all special values ðAx QÞð0Þ for x A K are algebraic numbers in C.
The module Tr;inta of p-integral theta functions consists out of those functions Q A Tr; a for which
1
the values ðAx QÞð0Þ for x A K are algebraic numbers whose images under ip  iy are integral
in Cp .

These concepts may be trivially extended to Td and Vd; C . One may observe that the
Shintani operators E and F  preserve the space of algebraic theta functions. Further-
more, the Shintani operator F  ðcÞ : Tr; a ! Tr; acc 1 induces an isomorphism of Tr;inta and
Tr;intacc 1 if cc 1 is prime to rNðaÞ and c prime to p. It is obvious

1that

the linear functional
ar
l on Td takes algebraic values on functions in Td , and that ip iy lðQÞ falls into O for all
Q A Tdint .

Arithmetic variant of Yang’s formula. We now give an arithmetic version of Propo-

sition 2.3 following [Fi]. First we have to look at the arithmetic properties of the canonical
scalar product. Consider the complex-antilinear maps Tr; a ! Tr; a defined by Qy ðwÞ ¼ QðwÞ.
These maps fit together to a map from any space Vd; C to itself, also denoted by Q 7! Qy . In
this way we may define non-degenerate bilinear forms

b : Tr; a  Tr; a ! C; bðQ1 ; Q 2 Þ ¼ hQy1 ; Q 2 i;

and a non-degenerate symmetric bilinear form b on Vd; C by summing over a system of rep-
resentatives for the ideal classes of K. Also, if aa1 is prime to the integer rNðaÞ, it is not
di‰cult to see that we obtain
a non-degenerate
 symmetric bilinear form on the space Tr; a
by setting b 0 ðQ1 ; Q 2 Þ ¼ b F  ðaÞQ1 ; Q 2 .

We introduce the arithmetic variant bar ¼ ðWy =2pÞb of the form b. In the same man-
0
ner we define bar ¼ ðWy =2pÞb 0 if aa1 is prime to rNðaÞ.

Proposition 3.2. For r and a such that d ¼ rNðaÞ is integral, the bilinear form
bar ðQ1 ; Q 2 Þ takes algebraic values at arithmetic theta functions Q1 A Tr;ara and Q 2 A Tr;ara . Fur-
thermore, for p-integral functions Q1 and Q 2 the value ðdDÞ 5=2 D 1=4 bar ðQ1 ; Q 2 Þ is p-integral.
If aa1 is prime to d, the corresponding arithmeticity statement is true for the symmetric bi-
0 0
linear form bar . The corresponding integrality statement for bar is also true if in addition a is
prime to p.

The following proposition is the announced arithmetic variant of Yang’s formula.

Proposition 3.3. Let l be an anticyclotomic Hecke character of infinity type ð1; 0Þ,
root number W ðlÞ ¼ þ1 and conductor dDd1 , where d is a square-free product of ramified
prime ideals of K. Let Ql be an element of the associated one-dimensional Shintani eigenspace
140 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields

in Vd;prim
C with the class C determined by l, and let a be a fractional ideal of K with NðaÞ A C.
Then
 2
2 nðDÞ Q
 1 lðQl Þ
ð8Þ W1
y Lð0; lÞ ¼ p ffiffiffiffi 1  oK=Q ðqÞq1
b ðQ ; Q
ar l; a l; a Þ :
D qjd wK

Parametrization of the Shintani eigenspaces. Consider a positive integer d 0 not divis-

ible by p. In [Fi], Section 4, we have given a description of the Shintani eigenspaces in
Tdprim
0p
m , m f 0, in terms of the associated eigencharacters. We repeat here this construction

with some refinements, and use Proposition 3.3 to connect it to the special values of anti-
cyclotomic L-functions.

Recall the description of the Shintani representation given in Proposition 2.1. The
Hecke characters l appearing in Tdprim 0p

m are precisely the characters with restriction to AQ

equal to oK=Q j
jA , infinity type ð1; 0Þ, root number W ðlÞ ¼ þ1 and conductor
d 0 p m Dd1 , where d is a square-free product of ramified prime ideals. We fix the restriction
b of l to the group L d 0 D defined in Section 2, while lp jQp o is free to vary over characters
Kp

whose restriction to Q
p is j
jp . Of course, to give lp jQ
po
 is equivalent to giving the char-
Kp

acter l p jZp . The character l itself is determined by these local data up to a twist by a char-
acter of ClK =ClKinv , where ClKinv denotes the group of ideal classes invariant under complex
conjugation. The other way around, given a character b of L d 0 D with bq jQq ¼ oK=Q; q j
jq
for all q dividing d 0 D, conductor d 0 Dd1 , b y ðzÞ ¼ z, root number þ1, and some Dirichlet
character of conductor p m determining lp , there exists a Hecke character of K with these
restrictions to L d 0 D and Q  
p oKp if and only if bðxÞlp ðxÞ ¼ 1 for all x A K for which xoK
contains only ramified prime factors. (For wK ¼ 2 it is enough to consider x ¼ d.) By Prop-
osition 2.1 the local components bq at the ramified primes q determine via their root
numbers Wq ðbq Þ a unique class C A NðIK Þ=NðK  Þ such that the character l occurs (with
multiplicity one) in the space Vd prim m
0 p ; Cp
m . If a is an ideal with NðaÞ A C, the characters b as

above that are compatible with the class C are in one-to-one correspondence with the Shin-
tani eigenspaces in Tdprim0 =NðaÞ; a
.

To give explicit representatives of the eigenspaces in Vd 0prim

p m ; Cp m , we need to introduce
an auxiliary construction. For r and b such that rNðbÞ is integral, a Dirichlet character w
modulo p m , and an element l A bp m pm of order p m modulo bp m , define an operator

Pp m ; w; l : Tr; b ! Tr; bp m

by
P
Pp m ; w; l ðQÞ ¼ wðxÞcðxlÞAxl Q:
x mod p m

It is clear that Pp m ; w; l depends only on l modulo bp m and that Pp m ; w; cl ¼ wðcÞ1 Pp m ; w; l

for any integer c prime to p. Analogously we define Pp m ; w; l 0 by exchanging the roles of p
and p. The role of this definition is explained by the following lemma [Fi], Lemma 3.8. We
call an
integral
 theta function Q A Tr;inta normalized, if a multiple gQ lies in Tr;inta precisely for
g A iy ip1 ðOÞ .
 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields 141

Lemma 3.4. Let r and a be such that d ¼ rNðaÞ ¼ d 0 p m with p F d 0 . Also, let
l A apm be of order p m modulo a. Then the operator Pp m ; w; l : Tr; apm ! Tr; a has the follow-
ing properties:

(i) Pp m ; w; l commutes with the action of the Shintani operators Fq on Tr; apm and Tr; a
for q 3 p.

(ii) Pp m ; w; l maps Tr;intapm to Tr;inta , and if Q A Tr;intapm is normalized, Pp m ; w; l ðQÞ is also

normalized.

(iii) If lp ðzÞ ¼ l p ðzp =zp Þ for z A Q 

p oKp , with a primitive Dirichlet character l p modulo
m 
p , the lp -eigenspace of Fp in Tr; a is the image of Tr; apm under Pp m ; l p ; l .

Using this, we can give the desired description. Let C be a system of representatives
for ClK =ClKinv consisting out of integral ideals prime to their complex conjugates and to
pd 0 . Then the ideals acc1 , c A C, form a system of representatives for the classes of ideals
with norms in the class C (the genus of a). The next lemma then follows immediately from
Lemma 3.4.

Lemma 3.5. The Shintani eigenspaces in Vd prim m

0 p ; Cp
m may be described as follows. Let
prim
Q a be a generator of the Shintani eigenspace in Td 0 =NðaÞ; a determined by the restriction
ljL d D ¼ b. Also, let C be the l. c. m. of all ideals c A C, A ¼ aC, and lm A Ap m pm a gener-
0
ator of Ap m pm =Ap m . Then Ql ¼ ðQl; ap m cc1 Þ with


ð9Þ Ql; ap m cc1 ¼ lðcÞl^p ðpÞm Pp m ; l p ; lm Eðcc1 ÞQ a

gives a generator of the l-eigenspace. If Q a is a normalized integral eigenfunction, the func-

tions Ql; ap m cc1 are all normalized integral.

We fix now a normalized integral eigenfunction Q a as in the lemma. Proposition 3.3

establishes a connection between the value lðQl Þ and the L-value Lð0; lÞ. To make this re-
lation as explicit as necessary for our purpose, we have to compute bar ðQl; ap m ; Ql; ap m Þ in
terms of Q a and l. This can be done using the techniques of [Fi], Section 3.

From now on assume that a is prime to d 0 Dp. Consider m f 1 and set

km ¼ p m ip ðl m Þ A Zp =p m Zp . Write ap m ¼ acd with a A K  , c A C and d a product of ramified
prime ideals (in particular d ¼ d). This implies ap m cc1 ¼ aa1 ap m . Therefore

Ql; ap m ¼ maa1 ðQap m cc1 Þ


¼ lðcÞl^p ðpÞm Pp m ; l p ; aa1 lm maa1 Eðcc1 ÞQ a :

We know that Q a is an eigenfunction of the operators F  ðzÞ with eigencharacter

b 1 jK  XL d D . Then
0

maa1 Eðcc1 ÞQ a ¼ NðcÞF  ðp m ÞF  ðaÞF  ða1 ÞQ a

¼ NðaÞp m bðaÞ1 F  ðp m ÞF  ðaÞQ a :

142 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields

From the definition of a and the fact that ljL d D ¼ b it is easy to see that
bðaÞ1 ¼ lp ðaÞlðac1 Þ. Consequently we obtain
0


Ql; ap m ¼ NðaÞlðaÞlp ðaÞp m l^p ðpÞm Pp m ; l p ; aa1 lm F  ðp m ÞF  ðaÞQ a :

To proceed, we need the following lemma [Fi], Lemma 3.9. Define for a Dirichlet
of conductor p m , m f 1, and a primitive p m -th root of unity m the Gauss sum
character w P
gðw; mÞ ¼ wðkÞm k .
k mod p m

Lemma 3.6. Let p ¼ pp, m f 1, Q A Tr; b , v A b of order p m modulo bp m and

w A bp m pm of order p m modulo bp m , and w a primitive Dirichlet character modulo p m . As-
sume that rNðbÞ is prime to p. Then we have the following identity of theta functions in
Tr; bp m :


Pp m ; w; v F  ðp m ÞQ ¼ pm gðw; mÞPp m ; w 1 ; w ðQÞ;

with the primitive p m -th root of unity m ¼ e 2pir TrðdvwÞ .

Using this, we may write


Ql; ap m ¼ NðaÞlðaÞlp ðaÞl^p ðpÞm gðl p ; mÞPp m ; l1 ; l m F  ðaÞQ a ;
p

1
Trðdaa1 lm2 Þ
where m ¼ e 2pid 0 NðaÞ , and get

bðQ ap m ; Qap m Þ ¼ NðaÞlðaÞlp ðaÞl^p ðpÞ2m gðl p ; mÞ

  
b Pp m ; l1 ; l m F  ða Q a ; Pp m ; l p ; lm ðQ a Þ
p

¼ NðaÞlðaÞlp ðaÞl^p ðpÞ2m gðl p ; mÞ


p m ð1  p1 Þb F  ðaÞQ a ; Q a :

Now, by definition the p-adic root number of l is equal to


Wp ðlÞ ¼ pm l p ðcÞg l p ; eK p ðcd1 Þ ;

where c is an element of K p F Qp of valuation m. An elementary calculation allows one

to rewrite this as


Wp ðlÞ ¼ l p d 0 DNðaÞ1 km2 p m lp ðaÞl^p ðpÞ2m gðl p ; mÞ:

Putting everything together, we have proved the following result:


bar ðQ ap m ; Qap m Þ ¼ NðaÞlðaÞl p NðaÞd 01 D1 km
2
Wp ðlÞð1  p1 Þbar
0
ðQ a ; Q a Þ:
 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields 143

0
For m ¼ 0 it is easy to see that bar ðQ ap m ; Qap m Þ ¼ NðaÞlðaÞbar ðQ a ; Q a Þ. We can now give a
reformulation of Proposition 3.3 in terms of the theta functions Ql . To make it easier to
state, we define a constant MðQ a Þ associated to the theta function Q a as
 
2 nðDÞ Q oK=Q ðqÞ
MðQ a Þ ¼ pffiffiffiffi 1 NðaÞ1 bar
0
ðQ a ; Q a Þ1 :
D qjd 0 q

Proposition 3.7. Let d 0 be prime to p, b, a, Q a and C be as above, m f 0, and lm be

chosen such that km ¼ p m ip ðl m Þ 1 1ðp m Þ. Then for any anticyclotomic Hecke character l of
conductor d 0 p m Dd1 with ljL d D ¼ b we have
0

 2

1 1  lðQl Þ
W1
y Wp ðlÞLð0; lÞ ¼ MðQ a ÞlðaÞ l p d 0 DNðaÞ :
wK

For the computation of the m-invariant it is obviously important to know the valua-
tion of the constant MðQ a Þ. Recall the definition, given in the introduction, of the local
term mp ðlq Þ associated to a character lq of Kq for inert primes q. The following proposition
is a special case of [Fi], Proposition 3.8.

Proposition 3.8. Let d 0 be a positive integer prime to p, and a a fractional ideal of

K prime to d 0 Dp. Let Q a A Tdprim
0 =NðaÞ; a
be a normalized integral eigenfunction of the Shintani
operators F  ðzÞ with associated eigencharacters lq of the operators Fq for all q j d 0 D. Then

 P
ð10Þ vp MðQ a Þ ¼ mp ðlq Þ:
qjd 0 inert in K

The theta measure and the p-adic L-function. We now use Proposition 3.7 to give a
construction of the anticyclotomic p-adic L-function which exhibits it (up to the constant
MðQ a Þ) as the square of a certain ‘‘theta measure’’ interpolating the theta functions Ql . To
construct this measure, we need to study the definition of these theta functions more
closely. For any m f 0, z A Z=p m Z, and c A C define an element Qc; z; m A Vd 0 p m ; Cp m ðOÞ by



Qc; z; m; aap m cc1 ¼ ma1 cðzlm ÞAzlm Eðcc1 ÞQ a ; a A K ;

all other components zero. It is then clear that

P
Ql ¼ l^ðc½ pm p Þl p ðzÞQc; z; m ;
c A C; z A ðZ=p m ZÞ

if the conductor of l is exactly divisible by p m . Here c denotes an idele with c^oK ¼ c^oK
trivial at the places dividing d 0 Dp.

For varying m, the functions Qc; z; m satisfy a certain distribution relation which is cen-
tral to the construction of the theta measure. Consider for any integers m f m 0 f 0 the ca-
nonical inclusions Td 0 p m 0 =NðbÞ; b ,! Td 0 p m 0 =NðbÞ; bp mm 0 for all fractional ideals b, which induce
inclusions
im 0 ; m : Vd 0 p m 0 ; Cp m 0 ,! Vd 0 p m ; Cp m

compatible with the integral structures on both sides. Replacing p by p we also have corre-
sponding inclusions im 0 ; m . We then have the following relations between the functions Qc; z; m .
144 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields

Lemma 3.9. Let m f 1, z A Z=p m1 Z and c A C, and write cp ¼ ac 0 d with a A K  ,

c A C, and d ¼ d a product of ramified prime ideals. Set x ¼ ip ðp1 aa1 Þkm km1
0 1
as an ele-
m1
ment of Zp =p Zp . Then
P
ð11Þ Qc; w; m ¼ bðaÞim1; m ðQc 0 ; zx; m1 Þ:
w1zð p m1 Þ

P
Proof. The ap m cc1 -component Qap m cc1 of Qc; w; m is equal to
w1zð p m1 Þ

P

Qap m cc1 ¼ cðzlm ÞAzlm Eðcc1 ÞQ a
w1zð p m1 Þ


¼ cðzlm ÞAzlm Eðcpc1 p1 ÞQ a



 
¼ bðaÞmaa1 cðzlm aa1 ÞAzlm aa1 E c 0 ðc 0 Þ1 Q a ;


where we have used that Eðcpc1 p1 Þ ¼ maa1 E c 0 ðc 0 Þ1 F  ða1 Þ because of the
multiplicativity of the operators F  . To complete the argument, observe that
lm aa1 1 xlm1 ðaCp m1 Þ, and compare with the definition of Qc 0 ; zx; m1 .

We now introduce a slightly di¤erent parametrization of the Hecke characters ap-

pearing in Vd 0prim
p m ; Cp m . Namely, every Hecke character l as above can be written as a product
l ¼ l 0 f, where l 0 is a character of the same type, but with conductor d 0 Dd1 or d 0 pDd1 ,
and f a character of p-power order and conductor p m with trivial restriction to Q. The fi-
nite order characters of K ramified only at p, and trivial on Af , are the characters of the
ð pÞ
group Gy ¼ AK; f =Af K  ^oK , which fits into an exact sequence
z 7! ðz;1Þp
 2
1 ! Z
p =ðoK Þ ! Gy ! ClK ! 1:

Since p is odd, we have Z ~

p F m p1  U with U ¼ 1 þ pZp F Zp . Define Gy as the pro-p
part of Gy . Then from the exact sequence above we get the exact sequence
~y ! ClK; p ! 1;
1!U !G

where ClK; p is the p-part of the class group of K. Our measures will be defined on the
group G ~y . The character f is a character of G ~y of conductor p m , i.e. it is trivial on
m
Um ¼ 1 þ p Zp L U, and non-trivial on Um1 . In the following we denote by hci the class
~y . Note that the factorization l ¼ l 0 f is in general not
of an idele c A AK; f in the group G
unique, but the only ambiguity arises from ideal class characters of p-power order.

Consider now the O-modules Vd 0 p m ; Cp m ðOÞ for m f 0 together with the inclusions
im 0 ; m for 0 e m 0 e m, and let V ^d ; C be the p-adic completion of the inductive limit of these
0
modules with respect to these maps. Since the linear functional l is compatible with the in-
^d ; C .
clusions im 0 ; m , it extends to V 0

Proposition 3.10. Assume the normalization condition km 1 1ðp m Þ, m f 1. For any

anticyclotomic Hecke character l 0 of infinity type ð1; 0Þ, root number þ1 and p-conductor
~y with values in V
p or 1, there exists a unique measure Yl 0 on G ^d ; C such that
0

Ð
f dYl 0 ¼ Ql 0 f
 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields 145

~y ! O such that l 0 f is ramified at p. If l 0 f is unramified

for any finite order character f : G
at p, we have
Ð

f dYl 0 ¼ i0;1  ðl 0 fÞðpÞi0; 1 Ql 0 f :

Proof. For m f 1 and g A G ~y define an element tl ; m ðgÞ A Vd p m ; Cp m ðOÞ by

0 0
1 m
tl 0 ; m ðgÞ ¼ 0 if ghc ½ p p i B U, and
P
ð12Þ tl 0 ; m ðgÞ ¼ l^0 ðc½ pm p Þl 0; p ðhÞQc; hu; m
c A C; h A m p1

if ghc1 ½ p m p i ¼ u A U. Clearly, this depends only on g modulo Um . We claim that

P

ð13Þ tl 0 ; m ðgvÞ ¼ im1; m tl 0 ; m1 ðgÞ
v A Um1 =Um

~y and m f 2. The proof of this identity is based on Lemma 3.9. Namely,

for all g A G
P P
tl 0 ; m ðgvÞ ¼ l^0 ðc½ pm p Þl 0; p ðhÞQc; huv; m
v A Um1 =Um c A C; h A m p1
v A Um1 =Um
P
¼ l^0 ðc½ pm p Þl 0; p ðhÞbðaÞim1; m ðQc 0 ; xhu; m1 Þ
c A C; h A m p1

 P
¼ bðaÞl 0 cðc 0 Þ1 p1 l 0 ð½ p1 x1 p Þ l^0 ðc 0 ½ pmþ1 p Þl 0; p ðhÞ
c0 A C; h A m p1

 im1; m ðQc 0 ; hu 0 ; m1 Þ;

where u ¼ ghc1 ½ p m p i A U, and u 0 ¼ uux with x ¼ hx ux . Because of the normalization con-

ditions km 1 1ðp m Þ and km1 1 1ðp m1 Þ, we have

u 0 ¼ ghðc 0 Þ1 ½ p m1 p ihc1 c 0 ½ pp iux ¼ ghðc 0 Þ1 ½ p m1 p i;

and also


bðaÞl 0 cðc 0 Þ1 p1 l 0 ð½ p1 x1 p Þ ¼ l 0; p ðkm1
1
km Þ ¼ 1:

This establishes (13).

Therefore we can define a measure Yl 0 on G ~y with values in V ^d ; C by setting

0
Yl 0 ðgUm Þ ¼ tl 0 ; m ðgÞ. It follows then easily from the definition that for any finite-order char-
acter f of G~y such that l ¼ l 0 f is ramified at p we have
Ð P
f dYl 0 ¼ fðgÞtl 0 ; m ðgÞ
~y =Um
gAG
P
¼ ðl^0 fÞðc½ pm p Þðl 0; p fp ÞðzÞQc; z; m ¼ Ql; m :
c A C; z A ðZ=p m ZÞ

In the special case where l is unramified at p, we get

146 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields

Ð P
f dYl 0 ¼ l^ðc½ p1 p ÞQc; h; 1
c A C; h A m p1
P

¼ p1 lðcp1 Þ bðaÞi0; 1 ðQc 0 ; 0; 0 Þ  i0; 1 ðQc; 0; 0 Þ
c


¼ i0; 1  lðpÞi0; 1 ðQl Þ:

This finishes the proof of the proposition.

If we evaluate the theta measure Yl 0 at zero via the functional l, we get an O-valued
measure yl 0 ¼ wK1 lðYl 0 Þ. Since for all x A K  such that xoK is a product of ramified primes,
the action of the unit xx1 on Q a is given by multiplication by bðxÞ1 , and since furthermore
bðxÞl 0; p ðxÞ ¼ 1, the value at zero of a summand in (12) remains unchanged if h is multi-
plied by an element of ip ðoK Þ. Therefore

P
ð14Þ yl 0 ðgUm Þ ¼ e l^0 ðc½ pm p Þ
c A C; h A m p1 =ip ðoK Þ
uðcÞ¼ghc1 ½ p m p i A U



1

 l 0; p ðhÞc huðcÞlm AhuðcÞlm Eðcc ÞQ a :

Here e denotes evaluation at the origin. By Proposition 3.10 we have then

Ð
 lðQl 0 f Þ
ð15Þ f dyl 0 ¼ 1  ðl 0 fÞðpÞ
wK
~y .
for all finite order characters f of G
~y interpolating the
We can now apply Proposition 3.7 to construct a measure on G
algebraic parts of the L-values Lð0; l 0 fÞ.

Proposition 3.11. Let d 0 be prime to p, and l 0 an anticyclotomic Hecke character of

infinity type ð1; 0Þ, root number þ1, and conductor d 0 Dd1 or d 0 Dpd1 , d a squarefree
product of ramified prime ideals. Let a be an ideal prime to d 0 Dp
such that NðaÞ lies in the
~ 2 1  1
class C determined by l 0 . Let g0 be the element of Gy with g0 ¼ d 0 DNðaÞ a , where
a is an idele corresponding to a. Choose a system of representatives C and a normalized Shin-
tani eigenfunction Q a , whichÐ together determine
Ð a theta measure yl 0 . Let yl0 0 be defined as the
0 ~y defined by
translate of yl 0 by g0 , i.e. f ðgÞ dyl 0 ¼ f ðg0 gÞ dyl 0 . Then the measure ml 0 on G


ml 0 ¼ MðQ a Þl 0 ½d 0 DNðaÞ1 p a1 ðyl0 0 Þ 2 has the interpolation property

2 Ð
ð16Þ W1
y Wp ðl 0 fÞ 1  ðl 0 fÞðpÞ Lð0; l 0 fÞ ¼ f dml 0

~y .
for all finite-order characters f of G

Proof. Combine Proposition 3.7 with the interpolation property (15) of the mea-
sure yl 0 .

We remark that we have only considered the interpolation property for characters
f of finite order, or anticyclotomic characters l ¼ l 0 f of infinity type ð1; 0Þ. However, if
we construct as in the introduction a measure m~l 0 on G ~y out of the Katz p-adic L-function,
the interpolation property (16) implies that m~l 0 ¼ Wp ml 0 for the p-adic period Wp . Therefore
 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields 147

we get up to the unit factor Wp the same measure as Katz and Hida-Tilouine, and the
corresponding interpolation property is in fact valid for all characters l of infinity types
ðk; k  1Þ, k f 1. To show this general interpolation property directly from the construc-
tion of the theta measure one would have to use vector valued theta functions. In special
cases this has been done in [So] in a somewhat di¤erent way. We do not consider this prob-
lem here, since our objective is the determination of the m-invariant of the measure ml 0 .

4. The m-invariant of the theta measure vanishes

The main theorem. In the preceding section we have given a construction of the anti-
cyclotomic p-adic L-function as a constant multiple of the square of a theta measure. We
will now exploit this relation to compute the m-invariant of the p-adic L-function. In fact,
we will show that the m-invariant of the theta measure vanishes.

Let T be the torsion subgroup of G ~y . Then the quotient W ¼ G

~y =T is isomor-
phic to Zp as a topological group. If t is any p-adic character of T, we can use the
~ ~
ÐprojectionÐ Gy ! W to pull back a measure m on Gy to a measure mt on W by setting
f dmt ¼ f t dm. Evidently, one of the measures mt has non-trivial m-invariant if and
only if m1 , the projection of m to W , has non-trivial m-invariant.

Theorem 4.1. For any odd prime p split in K and any anticyclotomic character l 0 of
infinity type ð1; 0Þ, root number þ1 and p-conductor p or 1, the projection of the theta mea-
sure yl 0 to W has trivial m-invariant.

As an immediate consequence we can now prove Theorem 1.1. Namely, since

vp ðyl 0 Þ ¼ 0, by Proposition 3.11 any pullback of ml 0 to W has m-invariant equal to the
valuation of MðQ a Þ, which has been determined in Proposition 3.8. So, Theorem 1.1 fol-
lows for characters l 0 under the restrictions above, but it is then easy to see that it is in
fact true for all characters l.

We turn to the proof of the theorem, which consists out of two main steps. We set up
an argument by contradiction, i.e. we assume that the reduction modulo the maximal ideal
of the pullback of ml 0 vanishes. Following ideas of Sinnott, we derive from this assumption
an algebraic relation in characteristic p. After some work we obtain the statement that for
every positive integer n a certain subvariety Dn of a power E nr , where E n is a characteristic p
elliptic curve with complex multiplication by oK , contains an infinite set of p-power torsion
points. In the second step we apply a result of Boxall to show that the Zariski closure of
this infinite set is an explicit abelian variety An L E nr , and we finish by deducing a contra-
diction from the inclusion An L Dn of algebraic varieties for all large n.

Deduction of algebraic relations. We assume the situation is set up as in Section 3,

~y . The
i.e. we fix d 0 and l 0 , choose a, C and Q a , and construct a theta measure yl 0 on G
values yl 0 ðgUm Þ are given by (14). The pullback of this measure to W is therefore

P
ð17Þ yl 0 ðgTUm Þ ¼ e l^0 ðc½ pm p Þ
c A C; h A m p1 =ip ðoK Þ
ghc1 ½ p m p i A TU



1

 l 0; p ðhÞc huðcÞlm AhuðcÞlm Eðcc ÞQ a ;
148 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields

where ghc1 ½ p m p i ¼ tðcÞuðcÞ with tðcÞ A T, uðcÞ A U. Assume now that all these values
~y .
vanish modulo the maximal ideal: yl 0 ðgTUm Þ ¼ 0 for all m f 1 and g A G

We rephrase the situation algebraically. Recall that we have introduced elliptic

curves E Ap m and line bundles Ld 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m over a number field M such that
GðE Ap m niy C; Ld 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m niy CÞ can be identified with the space Td 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m .
Also, the curves E Ap m nip Cp have good reduction, i.e. extend to elliptic curves
EAp m over O. There are isogenies jm : E Ap m ! E A with ker jm ¼ E Ap m ½p m , and to
the natural inclusion Td 0 =NðaÞ; A ! Td 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m corresponds the associated map
jm : GðE A ; Ld 0 =NðaÞ; A Þ ! GðE Ap m ; Ld 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m Þ.

Recall the Heisenberg group scheme GðLd 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m Þ from Section 3. There is a small-
est subgroup scheme Gp; f ðLd 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m Þ of GðLd 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m Þ such that the projection to the
p m -division points is still surjective; it is the subscheme of points g A GðLd 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m Þ with
m
g p ¼ 1, and is a part of an exact sequence

1 ! m p m ! Gp; f ðLd 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m Þ ! EAp m ½ p m  ! 0:

Since the line bundle Ld 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m is symmetric, and p is odd, we may construct a canonical
section of Gp; f (as a closed morphism) by using the automorphism d1 of G defined in
[Mum1], p. 308. It is of order two, its restriction to the center is the identity, and its pro-
jection to EAp m ½ p m  induces the map ½1. For x A EAp m ½ p m  we now let z ¼ Ax0 be the
unique element in Gp; f with d1 ðzÞ ¼ z1 projecting to x. We then have the multiplication
law
Ax0 Ay0 ¼ eðx; yÞ 1=2 Axþy
0
;

where e ¼ eLd 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m : EAp m ½ p m   EAp m ½ p m  ! m p m is the commutator pairing associated

to Ld 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m and the square root is (uniquely) taken in m p m . It is then easy to see that
if l A pm Ap m corresponds to the point x A E Ap m ½ p m , the operator Ax0 corresponds to
cðp m lÞAl on Tr; a .

Consider the theta functions Q a and Eðcc1 ÞQ a (or rather their images under iy 1
) as
m
elements of GðE Ap m nM Q; Ld 0 =NðaÞ; Ap m nM QÞ. Let Pm A E Ap m ½p  correspond to lm . The
theta function considered in (17) is then the element
P

l^0 ðc½ pm p Þl 0; p ðhÞAhuðcÞP
0
m
Eðcc1
ÞQ a
c A C; h A m p1 =ip ðoK Þ
ghc1 ½ p m p i A TU

of GðE Ap m nM Q; LAp m nM QÞ, and we are interested in its value at the origin.

Let us now look at the situation modulo p (i.e. for every object consider its base
change to Cp via ip and reduce modulo the maximal ideal). For a certain finite field
k L Fp of characteristic p we are given elliptic curves Em ¼ E Ap m over k with complex mul-
tiplication by oK together with isogenies jm : Em ! E0 (over k) such that ker jm ¼ Em ½p m .
For 0 e n e m the isogeny jm may be factored as jm ¼ jn cmn with an isogeny
cmn : Em ! En with kernel ker cmn ¼ Em ½p mn . In addition, we have a symmetric line
bundle L 0 over E0 , defined over k, and induced bundles L m ¼ jm L 0 over Em of degree
p m deg L 0 . We give the bundles L m rigidifications along the zero sections compatible with
 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields 149

the jm ; this induces compatible maps GFp ðEm ; L m Þ :¼ GðEm nk Fp ; L m nk Fp Þ ! Fp again
denoted by e.

Because Q a is normalized, it has non-zero reduction Q a modulo p, and since the ele-
ments of C are assumed to be prime to p, the functions Eðcc1 ÞQ a reduce to non-zero sec-
tions Eðcc1 ÞQ a of the characteristic p line bundle L 0 over the reduced curve E0 . Since p is
split in K, the curves Em are ordinary, and the p-divisible group Em ½py  is étale. From our
assumption we get that
 
P

e l^0 ðc½ pm p Þl 0; p ðhÞAhuðcÞP
0
j
m m

Eðcc1
ÞQ a ¼0
c A C; h A m p1 =ip ðoK Þ
ghc1 ½ p m p i A TU

for a point Pm A Em ½p m  of order p m .

Let C 0 L C be the set of all c A C with hci A TU. For c A C 0 write hci ¼ tc uc A TU.
Consider g A G~y with u ¼ gh½ p m  i A U. Then we obtain for any u A U, m f 1, the follow-
p
ing relation:
 
P

ð18Þ e ^ m 0
l 0 ðc½ p p Þl 0; p ðhÞAhuu1  1
j Eðcc ÞQ a ¼ 0:
c Pm m
c A C 0 ; h A m p1 =ip ðoK Þ

We now derive from these relations an algebraic identity saying that an algebraic va-
riety contains a certain set of points. To this end, take 1 e n < m, u A U, and consider (18)
for u þ p mn x instead of u with x modulo p n . This yields
 
P
0 
ð19Þ e ^ m 0
l 0 ðc½ p p Þl 0; p ðhÞAhuu1 c 
Ahxu1 mn P Þ Eðcc
1
ÞQ a
c Pm m; n c c ðp m
mn
c A C 0 ; h A m p1 =ip ðoK Þ

¼ 0:
Enumerate the elements of m p1 =ip ðoK Þ  C 0 as ðhn ; c n Þ for 0 e n e r  1, where
n
r ¼ ðp  1ÞKC 0 =wK , and define morphisms Fn : E n ! P p 1 by

0

Fn ¼ AxP j  Eðc n c1
n n n ÞQ a x mod p n :

Set an ¼ hn u1
c n for 0 e n e r  1. Every element a A
ðZ=p


n
ZÞ definesan automorphism ca
n
of P p 1 by ðvx Þx 7! ðvax Þx . Look at the r points can Fn an ucmn ðPm Þ . For x A E n ðFp Þ de-
fine L n ðxÞ as the tensor product with Fp of the stalk of L n at x (cf. [Mum1], p. 299). Then
0 
the
map G Fp ðE n ; L n Þ ! Fp given by Q 7! eðAX cmn QÞ induces an identification of
L n1 cmn ðX Þ with Fp . The relations

(19) imply now
 the existence of a non-trivial linear de-
pendency between the points can Fn an ucmn ðPm Þ : they have to lie in a projective space of
dimension r  2.

Lemma 4.2. Assume vp ðml 0 Þ > 0 and choices fixed as above. Let n f 1, Dn L E nr be
the subvariety defined by the relation
V

can Fn ðPn Þ ¼ 0:
n

Then for each m > n we have ðan PÞn A Dn for a point P A E n ½p m  of order p m .
150 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields

A geometric independence result. We now draw the consequences from the last
lemma. First consider the Zariski closure of the infinite set of all points ðan PÞn A E nr , m > n.

Lemma 4.3. Let r f 1 and an A Zp for 0 e n e r  1 be given,

rP
1
R¼ x A oKr ip ðxn Þan ¼ 0
n¼0

be the oK -module of relations between them, and

P
r1
An ¼ P ¼ ðPn Þ A E nr ½xn Pn ¼ 0 Ex A R
n¼0

the abelian subvariety of E nr defined by these relations. If M is an infinite subset of E n ½py ,

the Zariski closure of the set of all points ðan PÞn A E nr , P A M, is the abelian variety An .

Proof. This is an immediate consequence of [Fi], Lemma 4.5. (The proof is based on
[B].)

Applying this lemma to our situation, we conclude the inclusion An L Dn of alge-

braic varieties. We will show that this is impossible if n is big enough. For this we use that
for all geometric points X A An ðFp Þ we have an inclusion of schemes X þ An ½p n  L Dn ,
where An ½p n  is a connected group scheme of multiplicative type. Now, the action of
n
translations by E n ½p n  on Fn : E n ! P p 1 can be described as follows. Note that
E n ½ p n  F E n ½p n   E n ½p n , where the first factor is multiplicative
and the second one étale.
One can find an isomorphism i ¼ in : E n ½p n  F m p n such that en in ðzÞ; Pn ¼ z for the com-
mutator pairing en of L n on E n . Then we know that also in characteristic p the Heisenberg
group scheme Gp; f ðL n Þ, a finite group scheme of rank p 3n , has a unique irreducible
representation of group schemes on which its center acts by the identity [Se]
(see also
[Mum2], [Mum4], [MB]). For fixed n the span of the functions AP0 jn Eðc n c1 n ÞQ a ,


P A E n ½p n , in GFp ðE n ; L n Þ realizes this representation. Since the function jn Eðc n c1 n ÞQ a is
0 0 0


invariant under AiðzÞ , we see that AiðzÞ acts on the function AxP j  Eðc n c1
n n n ÞQ a via multi-
x
plication by z . Therefore

 n
Fn x þ iðzÞ ¼ diagð1; z; . . . ; z p 1 ÞFn ðxÞ:


 n
Set nowQ vnrn ¼ can Fn ðXn Þ , let iðzn Þ nn Ar An ½p  with zn A m p n be the generic point.QThis
means that zn ¼ 1 for all r A ip ðRÞ þ p Zp , and that on the other hand the products znjn

n  n
for j A Zpr = ip ðRÞ þ p n Zpr form a basis of the algebra An of functions on An ½p n  (by the
linear independence of characters, since An ½p n  is of multiplicative


type,
 or aan x ‘‘diagonaliz-
able group
scheme’’
 in the sense of [D], p. 36). Then ca n
Fn Xn þ iðz n Þ ¼ ðzn vnx Þx . There-
fore X þ iðzn Þ n A Dn means
P Q an in Q V
zn vnin ein ¼ 0
i A ðZp =p n Zp Þ r n n n

with coe‰cients in the algebra An . By independence of characters we deduce from this the
relations
 Finis, Anticyclotomic L-functions of imaginary quadratic fields 151
P Q V
vnin ein ¼ 0
i A ðZp =p n Zp Þ r n n
ail A ip ðRÞþp n Zpr =p n Zpr

for any l A ðZp =p n Zp Þ r .

If we can now find a summation index i with in 3 im ðn 3 mÞ such that no non-trivial

permutationVsðiÞ, s A Sr nfidg, occurs in the sum for the same value of l, a multiple of the
multivector ein appears only once. Therefore
n
Q
vnin ¼ 0;
n

i.e. one of the coordinates vnin has to vanish. But it is easily seen that the subvariety of An
cut out by the condition that one of the coordinates of the Fn ðPn Þ vanishes, has codimen-
sion one, and so choosing a point X outside of this exceptional set yields a contradiction.
The existence of an index i with the required property is provided by the following lemma
([Fi], Lemma 4.7), which finishes the proof of the main theorem.

Lemma 4.4. For n large enough, there exists an element i A ðZ=p n ZÞ r such that in 3 im
ðn 3 mÞ and


a i  sðiÞ B ip ðRÞ þ p n Zpr =p n Zpr

for every s A Sr nfidg.

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Universität Leipzig, Mathematisches Institut, Fakultät für Mathematik und Informatik,

Augustusplatz 10/11, 04109 Leipzig
e-mail: finis@mathematik.uni-leipzig.de

Eingegangen 25. April 2005