Efficient algorithms for computing the Euler-Poincar\'e characteristic of symmetric semi-algebraic sets

Let $\mathrm{R}$ be a real closed field and $\mathrm{D} \subset \mathrm{R}$ an ordered domain. We consider the algorithmic problem of computing the generalized Euler-Poincar\'e characteristic of real algebraic as well as semi-algebraic subsets of $\mathrm{R}^k$, which are defined by symmetric polynomials with coefficients in $\mathrm{D}$. We give algorithms for computing the generalized Euler-Poincar\'e characteristic of such sets, whose complexities measured by the number the number of arithmetic operations in $\mathrm{D}$, are polynomially bounded in terms of $k$ and the number of polynomials in the input, assuming that the degrees of the input polynomials are bounded by a constant. This is in contrast to the best complexity of the known algorithms for the same problems in the non-symmetric situation, which are singly exponential. This singly exponential complexity for the latter problem is unlikely to be improved because of hardness result ($\#\mathbf{P}$-hardness) coming from discrete complexity theory.Comment: 29 pages, 1 Figure. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1312.658

Horizontal non-vanishing of Heegner points and toric periods

Let $F/\mathbb{Q}$ be a totally real field and $A$ a modular \GL_2-type abelian variety over $F$. Let $K/F$ be a CM quadratic extension. Let $\chi$ be a class group character over $K$ such that the Rankin-Selberg convolution $L(s,A,\chi)$ is self-dual with root number $-1$. We show that the number of class group characters $\chi$ with bounded ramification such that $L'(1, A, \chi) \neq 0$ increases with the absolute value of the discriminant of $K$. We also consider a rather general rank zero situation. Let $\pi$ be a cuspidal cohomological automorphic representation over \GL_{2}(\BA_{F}). Let $\chi$ be a Hecke character over $K$ such that the Rankin-Selberg convolution $L(s,\pi,\chi)$ is self-dual with root number $1$. We show that the number of Hecke characters $\chi$ with fixed $\infty$-type and bounded ramification such that $L(1/2, \pi, \chi) \neq 0$ increases with the absolute value of the discriminant of $K$. The Gross-Zagier formula and the Waldspurger formula relate the question to horizontal non-vanishing of Heegner points and toric periods, respectively. For both situations, the strategy is geometric relying on the Zariski density of CM points on self-products of a quaternionic Shimura variety. The recent result \cite{Ts, YZ, AGHP} on the Andr\'e-Oort conjecture is accordingly fundamental to the approach.Comment: Adv. Math., to appear. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1712.0214