Shimura varieties at level $\Gamma_1(p^\infty)$ and Galois representations

Abstract

We show that the compactly supported cohomology of certain $\mathrm{U}(n,n)$ or $\mathrm{Sp}(2n)$-Shimura varieties with $\Gamma_1(p^\infty)$-level vanishes above the middle degree. The only assumption is that we work over a CM field $F$ in which the prime $p$ splits completely. We also give an application to Galois representations for torsion in the cohomology of the locally symmetric spaces for $\mathrm{GL}_n/F$. More precisely, we use the vanishing result for Shimura varieties to eliminate the nilpotent ideal in the construction of these Galois representations. This strengthens recent results of Scholze and Newton-Thorne.