The subconvexity problem for symmetric square $L$-functions in level aspect

Source abstract

In this paper, we address the subconvexity problem in level aspect for symmetric square $L$-functions for cuspidal automorphic representation of $\mathrm{GL}_2(\mathbb{Q})$ with a prescribed local ramification at prime $p$. To be more precise, let $π$ be a tempered cuspidal automorphic representation of conductor $q(π)=p^2$ with a non-quadratic central character of conductor $p$. We prove that if the corresponding local representation $π_p$ belongs to a suitable class of representations $\mathcal S$, then $$L\left(\frac{1}{2},\,\mathrm{Sym}^2π\right)\ll_{\varepsilon, π_\infty} q(\mathrm{Sym}^2π)^{\frac{1}{4}-\frac{1}{168}+o(1)},$$ where implied constant depends polynomially on the spectral parameters of $π_\infty$. This is the first instance of level-aspect subconvex bound for $L$-functions of a $\mathrm{GL}_3(\mathbb Q)$ automorphic representation. Our approach is based on the delta-symbol method. Apart from some standard analytic number theoretic tools, Katz's theory of hypergeometric sums, and Deligne's proof of Weil-conjectures play an important role in the proof.