On bounding Hecke--Siegel eigenvalues (Q2488827)

The paper under review exhibits a bound on the size of the eigenvalues of some ''averaged'' Hecke operators acting on a Siegel modular form \(F\), assuming that we are given a bound on the size of \(F\)'s Fourier coefficients. Before discussing this in more detail, let us place this result in its mathematical and historical context. In 1974, Deligne proved the Ramanujan conjecture for elliptic modular forms: if \(f\) is a modular form of weight \(k\) such that \(T_pf=a_pf\) for almost all primes \(p\), then \(| a_p| \ll p^{(k-1)/2}\). Since for an eigenform \(f\) the Fourier coefficients are related in a very straightforward way to the Hecke eigenvalues, Deligne's result provides a bound for both the Fourier coefficients and the Hecke eigenvalues. Things get more complicated when one considers these questions for Siegel modular forms. For instance, the information of the Hecke action on a Siegel modular form does not determine the form's Fourier coefficients. There are ''generalized Ramanujan-Petersson conjectures'' giving estimates for the size of the Fourier coefficients [see \textit{H. L. Resnikoff} and \textit{R. L. Saldaña}, J. Reine Angew. Math. 265, 90--109 (1974; Zbl 0278.10028)] and of the Hecke eigenvalues [see \textit{I. Satake}, Proc. Symp. Pure Math. 9, 258--264 (1966; Zbl 0202.41102)]. There are known counterexamples (Saito-Kurokawa lifts) to both conjectures; nevertheless they are expected to hold ``generically''. The present paper continues an approach taken by \textit{W. Duke, R. Howe} and P\textit{J.-S. Li} [Duke Math. J. 67, No. 1, 219--240 (1992; Zbl 0766.11026)] and \textit{W. Kohnen} [Nagoya Math. J. 149, 83--92 (1998; Zbl 0904.11012)], in which one assumes certain asymptotics for Fourier coefficients and uses them to derive estimates on the size of the Hecke eigenvalues. In the case of Siegel modular forms of degree \(n\), the local Hecke algebra at \(p\) is generated by \(n+1\) operators \(T(p)\) and \(T_j(p^2)\), \(j=1,\ldots,n\). Duke-Howe-Li and Kohnen work only with \(T(p)\). In the paper under review, eigenvalues for the operators \(\widetilde{T}_j(p^2)\) are considered, where \(\widetilde{T}_j(p^2)\) are certain ``averaged'' operators which are more convenient to work with than the \(T_j(p^2)\). The result is an asymptotic estimate on the eigenvalues of \(\widetilde{T}_j(p^2)\), conditional on a certain bound on the Fourier coefficients. The proof is based on some counting arguments and on the explicit description given by \textit{J. L. Hafner} and \textit{L. H. Walling} [J. Number Theory 93, 34--57 (2002; Zbl 1044.11034)] of the action of the \(\widetilde{T}_j(p^2)\) on the Fourier coefficients. The counting arguments are expressed in the language of integral lattices; as a by-product of this point of view, the author sketches proofs of the above-mentioned results of Duke-Howe-Li and Kohnen. Note that only Siegel modular forms of level \(1\) (i.e. on the full symplectic group) are considered.