Theta correspondence and Springer correspondence

Abstract

In this paper, we obtain an explicit formula for the theta correspondence of unipotent principal-series representations between an even orthogonal and a symplectic group or between general linear groups over a finite field. The formula is in terms of the Springer correspondence. Along the way we prove general results about module categories of Hecke categories arising from spherical varieties, and give a similar formula for the multiplicities of the unipotent principal series representations in the function space of the spherical variety in terms of relative Springer theory.