The Weyl law for congruence subgroups and arbitrary K∞-types

Abstract

Let G be a reductive algebraic group over Q and Γ⊂G(Q) an arithmetic subgroup. Let K∞⊂G(R) be a maximal compact subgroup. We study the asymptotic behavior of the counting functions of the cuspidal and residual spectrum, respectively, of the regular representation of G(R) in L2(Γ﹨G(R)) of a fixed K∞-type σ. A conjecture, which is due to Sarnak, states that the counting function of the cuspidal spectrum of type σ satisfies Weyl's law and the residual spectrum is of lower order growth. Using the Arthur trace formula we reduce the conjecture to a problem about L-functions occurring in the constant terms of Eisenstein series. If G satisfies property (L), introduced by Finis and Lapid, we establish the conjecture. This includes classical groups over a number field.