Let $G$ be a connected split reductive group over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_{q}$ and $X$ a smooth projective geometrically connected curve over $\mathbb{F}_{q}$. The $\ell$-adic cohomology of stacks of $G$-shtukas is a generalization of the space of automorphic forms with compact support over the function field of $X$. In this paper, we construct a constant term morphism on the cohomology of stacks of shtukas which is a generalization of the constant term morphism for automorphic forms. We also define the cuspidal cohomology which generalizes the space of cuspidal automorphic forms. Then we show that the cuspidal cohomology has finite dimension and that it is equal to the (rationally) Hecke-finite cohomology defined by V. Lafforgue.

In this paper we establish some constraints on the eigenvalues for the action of a self map of a proper variety on its $\ell$-adic cohomology. The essential ingredients are a trace formula due to Fujiwara, and the theory of weights.

We determine the Galois representations inside the $\ell$-adic cohomology of some unitary Shimura varieties at split places where they admit uniformization by finite products of Drinfeld upper half spaces. Our main results confirm Langlands–Kottwitz’s description of the cohomology of Shimura varieties in new cases.