Let $E$ be a $\textrm{CM}$-field and $\pi$ a cuspidal representation of $\textrm{GL}_n({\mathbb{A}}_E)$ which admits a spherical vector (at all places) <formula form="inline" disc="math" id="ffm005"><formtex notation="AMSTeX">$\phi_0$. We evaluate the period of $\phi_0$ with respect to any compact unitary group. The result is consistent with a conjecture of Sarnak.

The relative trace formula is a tool in the theory of automorphic forms which was invented by Jacquet in order to study period integrals and relate them to Langlands functoriality. In this paper we give an analogue of Arthur’s spectral expansion of the trace formula to the relative setup in the context of $\text{GL}_n$. This is an important step toward application of the relative trace formula and it extends earlier work by several authors to higher rank. Our method is new and based on complex analysis and majorization of Eisenstein series. To that end we use recent lower bounds of Brumley for Rankin–Selberg $L$-functions at the edge of the critical strip.

In this paper, we construct explicitly endoscopic representations of $\widetilde{\mathrm{Sp}}_{2n}$, the metaplectic cover of a symplectic group of rank $n$. We do this in the automorphic case, and also in the local case, over a $p$-adic field.

AMS 2000 Mathematics subject classification: Primary 11F70