Vanishing theorems for constructible sheaves on abelian varieties

Abstract

We show that the hypercohomology of most character twists of perverse sheaves on a complex abelian variety vanishes in all non-zero degrees. As a consequence we obtain a vanishing theorem for constructible sheaves and a relative vanishing theorem for a homomorphism between abelian varieties. Our proof relies on a Tannakian description for convolution products of perverse sheaves, and with future applications in mind we discuss the basic properties of the arising Tannaka groups.