Secondary Term for the Mean Value of Maass Special $L$-values

Abstract

In this paper, we discover a secondary term in the asymptotic formula for the mean value of Hecke--Maass special $L$-values $ L (1/2+it_f, f) $ with the average over $f (z)$ in an orthonormal basis of (even or odd) Hecke--Maass cusp forms of Laplace eigenvalue $1/4 + t_f^2$ ($t_f > 0$). To be explicit, we prove $$ \sum_{t_f \leqslant T} \omega_f L (1/2+it_f, f) = \frac {T^2} {\pi^2} + \frac {8T^{3/2}} {3\pi^{3/2} } + O \big(T^{1+\varepsilon}\big), $$ for any $\varepsilon > 0$, where $\omega_f$ are the harmonic weights. This provides a new instance of (large) secondary terms in the moments of $L$-functions -- it was known previously only for the smoothed cubic moment of quadratic Dirichlet $L$-functions. The proof relies on an explicit formula for the smoothed mean value of $L (1/2+it_f, f)$.