Computation of a cover of Shimura curves using a Hurwitz space (Q1012572)

The author gives an explicit equation of the following Shimura curve. Let \(K\) be the totally real, cyclic cubic number field of the polynomial \(x^3 + x^2 - 4x + 1\). Choose two real places of \(K\), consider the quaternion algebra \(B\) ramified exactly at the two places, and let \(\mathcal{O}\) be a maximal order; \(K\) has narrow class number \(1\), and \(\mathcal{O}\) turns out to be unique up to conjugation in \(B\). Finally let \(\mathcal{O}^1\) (resp. \(\mathcal{O}^1_2\)) be the subset of \(\mathcal{O}\) consisting of elements that are of reduced norm \(1\) (resp. and whose reduction mod \(2\) is upper triangular) (see p. 559 for details). The curve in question, denoted by \(\mathcal{X}_0(2)\), is the quotient of the upper half plane divided by the action (via the third real place) of \(\mathcal{O}^1_2 / \{ \pm 1\}\) over the complex numbers. It is naturally a degree 9, non-Galois, cover of the projective line \(\mathcal{X}(1)\), corresponding to \(\mathcal{O}^1 / \{ \pm 1 \}\). Both the curves and the last covering are canonically defined over \(\mathbb{Q}\), by Shimura and Deligne. The author presents explicit equations for the curve and the covering map. Main tools in use are the Hurwitz space (moduli of coverings of the projective line with prescribed ramification data), functoriality of the canonical models and the Atkin-Lehner involution. He concludes with a proposition on rational CM points on \(\mathcal{X}(1)\).