Automorphic cohomology of SO(n,2)+

Gerald Gotsbacher
(University of Vienna)

Abstract: The first part of the talk presents an informal and rather genetical introduction to automorphic forms (and Eisenstein series). This is done by tracing some major steps in the development of the concept of an automorphic form starting from some intuitively accessible problems. The second part describes how automorphic forms are used to actually compute cohomology for an arithmetic subgroup of a real semisimple Liegroup. The techniques and methods applied are illustrated in terms of the groups SO(n,2)+.