Topological representation zeta functions of unipotent groups

Inspired by work surrounding Igusa's 'local zeta function, we introduce topological representation zeta functions of unipotent algebraic groups over number fields. These group theoretic invariants capture common features of established p-adic representation zeta functions associated with pro-p groups derived from unipotent groups. We investigate fundamental properties of the topological zeta functions considered here. We also develop a method for computing them under non-degeneracy assumptions. As an application, among other things, we obtain a complete classification of topological representation zeta functions of unipotent algebraic groups of dimension at most six. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.