Bounding slopes of p-adic modular forms

Abstract: Let

p

be prime,

N

be a positive integer prime to

p

, and

k

be an integer. Let

P_{k} (t)

be the characteristic series for Atkin's

U

operator as an endomorphism of

p

-adic overconvergent modular forms of tame level

N

and weight

k

. Motivated by conjectures of Gouvea and Mazur, we strengthen Wan's congruence between coefficients of

P_{k}

and

P_{k^{'}}

for

k^{'}

close

p

-adically to

k

. For

p - 1 | 12

,

N = 1

,

k = 0

, we compute a matrix for

U

whose entries are coefficients in the power series of a rational function of two variables. We apply this computation to show for

p = 3

a parabola below the Newton polygon

N_{0}

of

P_{0}

, which coincides with

N_{0}

infinitely often. As a consequence, we find a polygonal curve above

N_{0}

. This tightest bound on

N_{0}

yields the strongest congruences between coefficients of

P_{0}

and

P_{k}

for

k

of large 3-adic valuation.

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