We define a notion of modular forms of half-integral weight on the quaternionic exceptional groups. We prove that they have a well-behaved notion of Fourier coefficients, which are complex numbers defined up to multiplication by ${\pm }1$. We analyze the minimal modular form $\Theta _{F_4}$ on the double cover of $F_4$, following Loke–Savin and Ginzburg. Using $\Theta _{F_4}$, we define a modular form of weight $\tfrac {1}{2}$ on (the double cover of) $G_2$. We prove that the Fourier coefficients of this modular form on $G_2$ see the $2$-torsion in the narrow class groups of totally real cubic fields.

Quaternionic automorphic representations are one attempt to generalize to other groups the special place holomorphic modular forms have among automorphic representations of $\mathrm {GL}_2$. Here, we use ‘hyperendoscopy’ techniques to develop a general trace formula and understand them on an arbitrary group. Then we specialize this general formula to study quaternionic automorphic representations on the exceptional group $G_2$, eventually getting an analog of the Eichler–Selberg trace formula for classical modular forms. We finally use this together with some techniques of Chenevier, Renard and Taïbi to compute dimensions of spaces of level-$1$ quaternionic representations. On the way, we prove a Jacquet–Langlands-style result describing them in terms of classical modular forms and automorphic representations on the compact-at-infinity form $G_2^c$.

The main technical difficulty is that the quaternionic discrete series that quaternionic automorphic representations are defined in terms of do not satisfy a condition of being ‘regular’. A real representation theory argument shows that regularity miraculously does not matter for specifically the case of quaternionic discrete series.

We hope that the techniques and shortcuts highlighted in this project are of interest in other computations about discrete-at-infinity automorphic representations on arbitrary reductive groups instead of just classical ones.

Albert algebras, a specific kind of Jordan algebra, are naturally distinguished objects among commutative nonassociative algebras and also arise naturally in the context of simple affine group schemes of type $\mathsf {F}_4$ , $\mathsf {E}_6$ , or $\mathsf {E}_7$ . We study these objects over an arbitrary base ring R, with particular attention to the case $R = \mathbb {Z}$ . We prove in this generality results previously in the literature in the special case where R is a field of characteristic different from 2 and 3.

We classify embeddings of the finite groups $A_4$ , $S_4$ and $A_5$ in the Lie group $G_2(\mathbb C)$ up to conjugation.

We prove that the structure group of any Albert algebra over an arbitrary field is R-trivial. This implies the Tits–Weiss conjecture for Albert algebras and the Kneser–Tits conjecture for isotropic groups of type $\mathrm {E}_{7,1}^{78}, \mathrm {E}_{8,2}^{78}$ . As a further corollary, we show that some standard conjectures on the groups of R-equivalence classes in algebraic groups and the norm principle are true for strongly inner forms of type $^1\mathrm {E}_6$ .

We show that the Tits index $E_{8,1}^{133}$ cannot be obtained by means of the Tits construction over a field with no odd degree extensions. The proof uses a general method coming from the theory of symmetric spaces. We construct two cohomological invariants, in degrees $6$ and $8$ , of the Tits construction and the more symmetric Allison–Faulkner construction of Lie algebras of type $E_8$ and show that these invariants can be used to detect the isotropy rank.

We give a construction that takes a simple linear algebraic group G over a field and produces a commutative, unital, and simple non-associative algebra A over that field. Two attractions of this construction are that (1) when G has type $E_8$, the algebra A is obtained by adjoining a unit to the 3875-dimensional representation; and (2) it is effective, in that the product operation on A can be implemented on a computer. A description of the algebra in the $E_8$ case has been requested for some time, and interest has been increased by the recent proof that $E_8$ is the full automorphism group of that algebra. The algebras obtained by our construction have an unusual Peirce spectrum.

Suppose that $G$ is a simple reductive group over $\mathbf{Q}$, with an exceptional Dynkin type and with $G(\mathbf{R})$ quaternionic (in the sense of Gross–Wallach). In a previous paper, we gave an explicit form of the Fourier expansion of modular forms on $G$ along the unipotent radical of the Heisenberg parabolic. In this paper, we give the Fourier expansion of the minimal modular form $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}_{Gan}$ on quaternionic $E_{8}$ and some applications. The $Sym^{8}(V_{2})$-valued automorphic function $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}_{Gan}$ is a weight 4, level one modular form on $E_{8}$, which has been studied by Gan. The applications we give are the construction of special modular forms on quaternionic $E_{7},E_{6}$ and $G_{2}$. We also discuss a family of degenerate Heisenberg Eisenstein series on the groups $G$, which may be thought of as an analogue to the quaternionic exceptional groups of the holomorphic Siegel Eisenstein series on the groups $\operatorname{GSp}_{2n}$.

We study exceptional Jordan algebras and related exceptional group schemes over commutative rings from a geometric point of view, using appropriate torsors to parametrize and explain classical and new constructions, and proving that over rings, they give rise to nonisomorphic structures.

We begin by showing that isotopes of Albert algebras are obtained as twists by a certain $\mathrm F_4$ -torsor with total space a group of type $\mathrm E_6$ and, using this, that Albert algebras over rings in general admit nonisomorphic isotopes even in the split case, as opposed to the situation over fields. We then consider certain $\mathrm D_4$ -torsors constructed from reduced Albert algebras, and show how these give rise to a class of generalised reduced Albert algebras constructed from compositions of quadratic forms. Showing that this torsor is nontrivial, we conclude that the Albert algebra does not uniquely determine the underlying composition, even in the split case. In a similar vein, we show that a given reduced Albert algebra can admit two coordinate algebras which are nonisomorphic and have nonisometric quadratic forms, contrary, in a strong sense, to the case over fields, established by Albert and Jacobson.

Answering a question of H. Petersson, we provide a class of examples of a pair of octonion algebras over a ring having isometric norms.

This paper gives a new upper bound for the essential dimension and the essential 2-dimension of the split simply connected group of type ${{E}_{7}}$ over a field of characteristic not 2 or 3. In particular, $\text{ed}\left( {{E}_{7}} \right)\,\le \,29$, and $\text{ed}\left( {{E}_{7}};\,2 \right)\,\le \,27$.