Let $W$ be an extended affine Weyl group. We prove that the minimal length elements $w_{\co}$ of any conjugacy class $\co$ of $W$ satisfy some nice properties, generalizing results of Geck and Pfeiffer \cite{GP} on finite Weyl groups. We also study a special class of conjugacy classes, the straight conjugacy classes. These conjugacy classes are in a natural bijection with the Frobenius-twisted conjugacy classes of some $p$-adic group and satisfy additional interesting properties. Furthermore, we discuss some applications to the affine Hecke algebra $H$. We prove that $T_{w_\co}$, where $\co$ ranges over all the conjugacy classes of $W$, forms a basis of the cocenter $H/[H, H]$. We also introduce the class polynomials, which play a crucial role in the study of affine Deligne-Lusztig varieties \cite{H99}.

Let O_c be the category of finite-length central-charge-c modules for the Virasoro Lie algebra whose composition factors are irreducible quotients of reducible Verma modules. Recently, it has been shown that O_c admits vertex algebraic tensor category structure for any c∈C. Here, we determine the structure of this tensor category when c=13−6p−6/p for an integer p>1. For such c, we prove that O_c is rigid, and we construct projective covers of irreducible modules in a natural tensor subcategory O_c^0. We then compute all tensor products involving irreducible modules and their projective covers. Using these tensor product formulas, we show that O_c has a semisimplification which, as an abelian category, is the Deligne product of two tensor subcategories that are tensor equivalent to the Kazhdan-Lusztig categories for affine sl_2 at levels −2+p^±1. Next, as a straightforward consequence of the braided tensor category structure on O_c together with the theory of vertex operator algebra extensions, we rederive known results for triplet vertex operator algebras W(p), including rigidity, fusion rules, and construction of projective covers. Finally, we prove a recent conjecture of Negron that O_c^0 is braided tensor equivalent to the PSL(2,C)-equivariantization of the category of W(p)-modules.

We present an integral representation for the tensor product L-function of a pair of automorphic cuspidal representations, one of a classical group, the other of a general linear group. Our construction is uniform over all classical groups, and is applicable to all cuspidal representations; it does not require genericity. The main new ideas of the construction are the use of generalized Speh representations as inducing data for the Eisenstein series and the introduction of a new (global and local) model, which generalizes the Whittaker model. Here we consider linear groups, but our construction also extends to arbitrary degree metaplectic coverings; this will be the topic of an upcoming work.

We derive generalizations of McShane’s identity for higher ranked surface group representations by studying a family of mapping class group invariant functions introduced by Goncharov and Shen which generalize the notion of horocycle lengths. In particular, we obtain McShane-type identities for finite-area cusped convex real projective surfaces by generalizing the Birman–Series geodesic scarcity theorem. More generally, we establish McShane-type identities for positive surface group representations with loxodromic boundary monodromy, as well as McShane-type inequalities for general rank positive representations with unipotent boundary monodromy. Our identities are systematically expressed in terms of projective invariants, and we study these invariants: we establish boundedness and Fuchsian rigidity results for triple and cross ratios. We apply our identities to derive the simple spectral discreteness of unipotent-bordered positive representations, collar lemmas, and generalizations of the Thurston metric.

The action of the mapping class group of the thrice-punctured projective plane on its GL(2,C) character variety produces an algorithm for generating the simple length spectra of quasi-Fuchsian thrice-punctured projective planes. We apply this algorithm to quasi-Fuchsian representations of the corresponding fundamental group to prove: a sharp upper-bound for the length its shortest geodesic, a McShane identity and the surprising result of non-polynomial growth for the number of simple closed geodesic lengths.