On divisors of modular forms (Q1744554): Difference between revisions

It is well known that the denominator formula for the Monster Lie algebra is the product expansion for the modular function \(J(z)-J(\tau)\) given in terms of the Hecke system of \(\operatorname{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})\)-modular functions \(j_n(\tau)\). More precisely, the denominator formula for the Monster Lie group asserts that \[ J(z)-J(\tau) = e^{-2 \pi i z} \prod_{m>0, n \in \mathbb{Z}} (1-e^{2 \pi i m z} e^{2 \pi i n \tau} )^{c(mn)}.\] Let \(j_n(\tau)\) be a Hecke system of functions given by \(j_0(\tau)=1\), \(j_1(\tau)=J(\tau)\) and \(j_n(\tau)=T_n(j_1(\tau))\). With this notation, an equivalent formulation of the denominator formula states that the generating function of the system \(j_n(\tau)\), which is denoted by \(H_z(\tau)\), satisfies \[ H_z(\tau):=\sum_{n \geq 0} j_n(z) e^{2 \pi i n \tau} = \frac{E_4(\tau)^2E_6(\tau)}{\Delta(\tau)} \frac{1}{J(\tau)-J(z)}=- \frac{1}{2 \pi i} \frac{J'(\tau)}{J(\tau)-J(z)} .\] In fact, this formula is equivalent to the description of the generating function for the \(j_n(z)\) as a weight \(2\) modular form with a pole at \(z\). In the paper under review, the authors extend the aforementioned results to the congruence subgroups \(Γ_0(N)\) for positive integers \(N\). With this aim, they introduce a Hecke system of harmonic Maass functions \(j_{N,n}(\tau)\) for \(\Gamma_0(N)\). This system generalizes the Hecke system \(j_n(\tau)\) for \(\operatorname{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})\). They also construct polar harmonic Maass forms \(H^*_{N,z}(\tau)\) of weight \(2\) for \(\Gamma_0(N)\) which generalize the functions \(H_z(\tau)\). Although the previous results rely on the fact that \(X_0(1)\) has genus \(0\), in the paper under review, the authors obtain a generalization, framed in terms of polar harmonic Maass forms, for all of the \(X_0(N)\) modular curves. They use these functions to study divisors of modular forms.