A new zero-free region for Rankin-Selberg $L$-functions

Abstract

Let $\pi$ and $\pi'$ be cuspidal automorphic representations of $\mathrm{GL}(n)$ and $\mathrm{GL}(n')$ with unitary central characters. We establish a new zero-free region for all $\mathrm{GL}(1)$-twists of the Rankin-Selberg $L$-function $L(s,\pi\times\pi')$, generalizing Siegel's celebrated work on Dirichlet $L$-functions. As an application, we prove the first unconditional Siegel-Walfisz theorem for the Dirichlet coefficients of $-L'(s,\pi\times\pi')/L(s,\pi\times\pi')$. Also, for $n\leq 8$, we extend the region of holomorphy and nonvanishing for the twisted symmetric power $L$-functions $L(s,\pi,\mathrm{Sym}^n\otimes\chi)$ of any cuspidal automorphic representation of $\mathrm{GL}(2)$.