Local analysis of the Kuznetsov formula and the density conjecture

Abstract

We prove Sarnak's spherical density conjecture for the principal congruence subgroup of SL(n, Z) of arbitrary level. Applications include a complete version of Sarnak's optimal lifting conjecture for principal congruence subgroups of SL(n, Z), as well as a transfer of the density theorem to certain co-compact situations. The main ingredients are new lower bounds for Whittaker functions and strong estimates for the cardinality of ramified Kloosterman sets.