We calculate a G_2-period of a Fourier coefficient of a cuspidal Eisenstein series on the split simply-connected group E_6, and relate this period to the Ginzburg-Rallis period of cusp forms on GL_6. This gives us a relation between the Ginzburg-Rallis period and the central value of the exterior cube L-function of GL_6.

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This is the note for a series of lectures that the author gave at the Centre de Recerca Matem´atica (CRM), Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain on October 19–24, 2009. The aim is to give a comprehensive description of some recent work of the author and his students on generalisations of the Gross-Zagier formula, Euler systems on Shimura curves, and rational points on elliptic curves.

In this paper, we give a simultaneous vanishing principle for the $v$-adic Carlitz multiple polylogarithms (abbreviated as CMPLs) at algebraic points, where $v$ is a finite place of the rational function field over a finite field. This principle establishes the fact that the $v$-adic vanishing of CMPLs at algebraic points is equivalent to its $\infty$-adic counterpart being Eulerian. This reveals a nontrivial connection between the $v$-adic and $\infty$-adic worlds in positive characteristic.