Test vectors for local cuspidal Rankin-Selberg integrals of GL(n), and reduction modulo $\ell$

Abstract

Let $π_1,π_2$ be a pair of cuspidal complex, or $\ell$-adic, representations of the general linear group of rank $n$ over a non-archimedean local field $F$ of residual characteristic $p$, different to $\ell$. Whenever the local Rankin-Selberg $L$-factor $L(X,π_1,π_2)$ is nontrivial, we exhibit explicit test vectors in the Whittaker models of $π_1$ and $π_2$ such that the local Rankin-Selberg integral associated to these vectors and to the characteristic function of $\mathfrak{o}_F^n$ is equal to $L(X,π_1,π_2)$. We give an initial application of the test vectors to reduction modulo $\ell$ of $\ell$-adic $L$-factors.