Closed geodesics, periods and arithmetic of modular forms (Q1059100)

[See the preliminary announcement in Bull. Am. Math. Soc., New Ser. 11, 177-179 (1984; Zbl 0547.10024).] This paper brings a great deal of recent work by Livshits, Guillemin and Kazhdan, Kohnen to bear on hyperbolic Poincaré series -- in doing so, the author establishes important and beautiful properties of these automorphic forms. To begin with, define \(\Gamma_ 0\) to be a subgroup of \(\Gamma\) (a Fuchsian group of the first kind acting on the upper half plane H). Next, let f be holomorphic on H and satisfy \[ (1)\quad f|_{2k}\gamma =f;\quad \gamma \in \Gamma_ 0,\quad \int_{\Gamma_ 0/H}| f(z)| y^ k dV<\infty \quad (z=x+iy). \] (Here dV is the hyperbolic metric and f \(|_{2k}\gamma =f(\gamma (z))(cz+d)^{-2k}\); \(\gamma =\left( \begin{matrix}.\\ c\end{matrix}^{.}_{d}\right)\).) Define \(F(z)=\sum_{\gamma \in \Gamma_ 0\setminus \Gamma}(f |_{2k}\gamma)(z)\). These are the relative Poincaré series. They are cusp forms of weight 2k. Next, the author associates a relative hyperbolic Poincaré series to each primitive hyperbolic \(\gamma_ 0\in \Gamma\) as follows: Let \(Q_{\gamma_ 0}(z)\) be the quadratic polynomial (integer coefficients) whose zeros are the fixed points of \(\gamma_ 0\). Then \(f=Q^{-k}_{\gamma_ 0}\) and \(\Gamma_ 0=<\gamma_ 0>\) satisfy (1). Then \[ \theta_{k,\gamma_ 0}(z)=C_{k,\gamma_ 0}\sum_{\gamma \in \Gamma_ 0/\Gamma}(Q_{\gamma_ 0} | \gamma)(z) \] is the cusp form associated to \(\gamma_ 0\). (This depends only on the conjugacy class of \(\gamma_ 0\) in \(\Gamma\), and so in the sequel is denoted by \(\theta_{k,[\gamma_ 0]}\). The constant \(C_{k,[\gamma_ 0]}\) is explicit.) The author's Theorem 1 states that these \(\theta_{k,[\gamma_ 0]}\) generate \(S_{2k}(\Gamma).\) Next, define the period \[ r_ k(g,\gamma_ 0)=\int^{\gamma_ 0z_ 0}_{z_ 0}g(z) Q_{\gamma_ 0}^{k-1}(z) dz,\quad g\in S_{2k}(\Gamma). \] This is independent of \(z_ 0\), the path of integration, and turns out to depend only on \([\gamma_ 0]\). Indeed \textit{W. Kohnen} [Bonn. Math. Schr. 131 (1981; Zbl 0451.10016)] showed: \(<g,\theta_{k,[\gamma_ 0]}>=r_ k(g,\gamma_ 0)\). (This is analogous to Fourier coefficients for parabolic Poincaré series.) The author obtains Theorem 1 from her Theorem 2: If \(f\in S_{2k}(\Gamma)\) has \(r_ k(f,[\gamma_ 0])=0\) for all \(\gamma_ 0\), then \(f\equiv 0\). It is here that the work of \textit{A. N. Livshits} [Mat. Zametki 10, 555- 564 (1971; Zbl 0227.58006)] on the possibility of integrating a smooth function on the geodesic flow and of \textit{V. Guillemin} and \textit{D. Kazhdan} [Topology 19, 301-312 (1980; Zbl 0465.58027)] on the Fourier analysis of such integrals comes into play. If, in addition, the group \(\Gamma\) is assumed to be symmetric: \(\Gamma =\epsilon \Gamma \epsilon\) where \(\epsilon =\left( \begin{matrix} -1\\ 0\end{matrix}^{0}_{1}\right)\), then Theorem 3 gives a formula for the difference of two certain periods of relative hyperbolic Poincaré series that is a sum of Legendre polynomials of the cosines of the angles of intersection of the two geodesics defining periods. Theorem 4 applies this and a formula of Wolpert to show that the inner product \(<\theta^+_{k,[\gamma_ 0]},\theta^-_{k,[\gamma_ 1]}>\) is rational when \(\Gamma\) is an arithmetic subgroup of SL(2,\({\mathbb{R}})\), (which must be symmetric). Here \[ \theta^+_{k,[\gamma_ 0]}=(\theta_{k,[\gamma_ 0]}+\theta_{k,[\epsilon \gamma_ 0\epsilon]})/2,\quad \theta^-_{k,[\gamma_ 0]}=(\theta_{k,[\gamma_ 0]}-\theta_{k,[\epsilon \gamma_ 0\epsilon]})/2i. \]