We define the Heegner--Drinfeld cycle on the moduli stack of Drinfeld Shtukas of rank two with $r$-modifications for an even integer $r$. We prove an identity between (1) The $r$-th central derivative of the quadratic base change $L$-function associated to an everywhere unramified cuspidal automorphic representation $\pi$ of $PGL_{ 2}$; (2) The self-intersection number of the $\pi$-isotypic component of the Heegner--Drinfeld cycle. This identity can be viewed as a function-field analog of the Waldspurger and Gross--Zagier formula for higher derivatives of $L$-functions.
Categories: math.NT math.AG