This work gives a full description of a method for analyzing the admissible complex representations of the general linear group G = Gl(N,F) of a non-Archimedean local field F in terms of the structure of these representations when they are restricted to certain compact open subgroups of G. The authors define a family of representations of these compact open subgroups, which they call simple types. The first example of a simple type, the "trivial type," is the trivial character of an Iwahori subgroup of G. The irreducible representations of G containing the trivial simple type are classified by the simple modules over a classical affine Hecke algebra. Via an isomorphism of Hecke algebras, this classification is transferred to the irreducible representations of G containing a given simple type. This leads to a complete classification of the irreduc-ible smooth representations of G, including an explicit description of the supercuspidal representations as induced representations. A special feature of this work is its virtually complete reliance on algebraic methods of a ring-theoretic kind. A full and accessible account of these methods is given here.

If F is a non-Archimedean local field, local class field theory can be viewed as giving a canonical bijection between the characters of the multiplicative group GL(1,F) of F and the characters of the Weil group of F. If n is a positive integer, the n-dimensional analogue of a character of the multiplicative group of F is an irreducible smooth representation of the general linear group GL(n,F). The local Langlands Conjecture for GL(n) postulates the existence of a canonical bijection between such objects and n-dimensional representations of the Weil group, generalizing class field theory.

This conjecture has now been proved for all F and n, but the arguments are long and rely on many deep ideas and techniques. This book gives a complete and self-contained proof of the Langlands conjecture in the case n=2. It is aimed at graduate students and at researchers in related fields. It presupposes no special knowledge beyond the beginnings of the representation theory of finite groupsand the structure theory of local fields. It uses only local methods, with no appeal to harmonic analysis on adele groups.

This work gives a full description of a method for analyzing the admissible complex representations of the general linear group G = Gl(N,F) of a non-Archimedean local field F in terms of the structure of these representations when they are restricted to certain compact open subgroups of G. The authors define a family of representations of these compact open subgroups, which they call simple types. The first example of a simple type, the "trivial type," is the trivial character of an Iwahori subgroup of G. The irreducible representations of G containing the trivial simple type are classified by the simple modules over a classical affine Hecke algebra. Via an isomorphism of Hecke algebras, this classification is transferred to the irreducible representations of G containing a given simple type. This leads to a complete classification of the irreduc-ible smooth representations of G, including an explicit description of the supercuspidal representations as induced representations. A special feature of this work is its virtually complete reliance on algebraic methods of a ring-theoretic kind. A full and accessible account of these methods is given here.

If F is a non-Archimedean local field, local class field theory can be viewed as giving a canonical bijection between the characters of the multiplicative group GL(1,F) of F and the characters of the Weil group of F. If n is a positive integer, the n-dimensional analogue of a character of the multiplicative group of F is an irreducible smooth representation of the general linear group GL(n,F). The local Langlands Conjecture for GL(n) postulates the existence of a canonical bijection between such objects and n-dimensional representations of the Weil group, generalizing class field theory.

This conjecture has now been proved for all F and n, but the arguments are long and rely on many deep ideas and techniques. This book gives a complete and self-contained proof of the Langlands conjecture in the case n=2. It is aimed at graduate students and at researchers in related fields. It presupposes no special knowledge beyond the beginnings of the representation theory of finite groupsand the structure theory of local fields. It uses only local methods, with no appeal to harmonic analysis on adele groups.