Epsilon Dichotomy for Linear Models: The Archimedean Case.

Let |$G=\textrm {GL}_{2n}({\mathbb {R}})$| or |$G=\textrm {GL}_n({\mathbb {H}})$| and |$H=\textrm {GL}_n({\mathbb {C}})$| regarded as a subgroup of |$G$|⁠. Here, |${\mathbb {H}}$| is the quaternion division algebra over |${\mathbb {R}}$|⁠. For a character |$\chi $| on |${\mathbb {C}}^\times $|⁠ , we say that an irreducible smooth admissible moderate growth representation |$\pi $| of |$G$| is |$\chi _H$| -distinguished if |$\operatorname {Hom}_H(\pi , \chi \circ \det _H)\neq 0$|⁠. We compute the root number of a |$\chi _H$| -distinguished representation |$\pi $| twisted by the representation induced from |$\chi $|⁠. This proves an Archimedean analogue of the conjecture by Prasad and Takloo-Bighash (J. Reine Angew. Math. 2011). The proof is based on the analysis of the contribution of |$H$| -orbits in a flag manifold of |$G$| to the Schwartz homology of principal series representations. A large part of the argument is developed for general real reductive groups of inner type. In particular, we prove that the Schwartz homology |$H_\ast (H, \pi \otimes \chi)$| is finite-dimensional and hence it is Hausdorff for a reductive symmetric pair |$(G, H)$| and a finite-dimensional representation |$\chi $| of |$H$|⁠. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]