$A_1$ - Coulomb branches over finite fields and Selberg Character sums

Abstract

Motivated by mirror symmetry, we study exponential sums over the $\mathbb{F}_q$-points of the $A_1$ Coulomb branch. We show that their fiberwise structure is governed by polynomial Gauss sums, providing a geometric realization of Selberg character sums studied by Evans. Using Evans's evaluation, we obtain explicit formulas for the Coulomb-branch exponential sums as products of classical Gauss sums.