Fourier expansions of complex-valued Eisenstein series on finite upper half planes (Q933859)

This paper gives another contribution to the amazingly close analogy between harmonic analysis by means of Maaß forms and Eisenstein series on the upper half-plane \(\mathbb H\subset\mathbb C\) and harmonic analysis on the finite ``upper'' half-plane \[ H_q=\{z=x+y\sqrt{\delta}:x,y\in\mathbb F_q,\;y\neq 0\} \] attached to a finite field \(\mathbb F_q\) with \(q=p^r\) elements \((p\neq 2)\). Here, \(\delta\in\mathbb F_q\) is a fixed nonsquare element. There exists a ``distance'' function on \(H_q\) resembling the hyperbolic metric and \(\text{GL}(2,\mathbb F_q)\) acts on \(H_q\) as a group of isometries by means of linear fractional transformations. The \(\text{GL}(2,\mathbb F_q)\)-invariant ``differential'' operators on \(H_q\) analogous to the hyperbolic Laplacian on \(\mathbb H\) are the adjacency operators on the graphs associated with \(H_q\). Let \(\chi:\mathbb F_q(\sqrt{\delta})^x\to \mathbb C\) be a multiplicative character. By definition, a modular form \(f: H_q\to\mathbb C\) on a subgroup \(\Gamma\) of \(\text{GL}(2,\mathbb F_q)\) is a function satisfying the transformation behaviour \[ f(\gamma z)=\chi(cz+d)f(z) \] for all \(\gamma=\left(\begin{smallmatrix} a & b\\ c & d\end{smallmatrix}\right)\in \Gamma\) and \(z\in H_q\). Such ``modular forms'' which are in addition eigenfunctions of the invariant ``differential operators'' (adjacency operators) are analogues of the classical Maaß forms on \(\mathbb H\). The paper under review is mainly devoted to an investigation of the ``Eisenstein series'' \[ E_{\chi,\Gamma}(z)=\sum_{\gamma\in\Gamma}\chi(\text{Im}(\Gamma z))\quad (z\in H_q) \] (and some more general Eisenstein series). The authors consider the cases \(\Gamma=\text{SL}(2,\mathbb F_p)\) and \(\Gamma=\text{GL}(2,\mathbb F_p)\) and they prove criteria under which the Eisenstein series do not vanish identically and hence are eigenfunctions of the adjacency operators. The main result of this paper is the proof of an analogue of the Fourier expansion of the real analytic Maaß Eisenstein series. In the case of the finite upper half-plane, the familiar K-Bessel functions must be replaced with certain sums of Kloosterman type. In addition, certain Gauß sums come up. Some explicit tables of values of Eisenstein series are given at the end of the paper.