Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2017
For the group $G=\operatorname{PGL}_{2}$ we perform a comparison between two relative trace formulas: on the one hand, the relative trace formula of Jacquet for the quotient $T\backslash G/T$, where $T$ is a nontrivial torus, and on the other the Kuznetsov trace formula (involving Whittaker periods), applied to nonstandard test functions. This gives a new proof of the celebrated result of Waldspurger on toric periods, and suggests a new way of comparing trace formulas, with some analogies to Langlands’ ‘Beyond Endoscopy’ program.