Hecke Algebras and Automorphic Forms

The goal of this paper is to carry out some explicit calculations of the actions of Hecke operators on spaces of algebraic modular forms on certain simple groups. In order to do this, we give the coset decomposition for the supports of these operators. We present the results of our calculations along with interpretations concerning the lifting of forms. The data we have obtained is of interest both from the point of view of number theory and of representation theory. For example, our data, together with a conjecture of Gross, predicts the existence of a Galois extension of Q with Galois group G₂(F₅) which is ramified only at the prime 5. We also provide evidence of the existence of the symmetric cube lifting from PGL₂ to PGSp₄.