The structure of Drinfeld modular forms of level \(\Gamma_0 (T)\) and applications (Q2682840)

We fix some notation. $A=\mathbb{F}_q[T]$ is the polynomial ring over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$, with field of fractions $K=\mathbb{F}_q(T)$, $K_\infty=\mathbb{F}_q((\frac1t))$, $C$ = completed algebraic closure of $K_\infty$. For technical reasons, the authors assume $q$ to be odd. The group $\Gamma$ is $\mathrm{GL}(2,A)$, and $\Gamma_0(T)$ is the Hecke congruence subgroup of $\Gamma$ of level $T$. For $k\in\mathbb{N}\cup\{0\}$, $l\in\mathbb{Z}/(q-1)$, let $M_{k,l}(\Gamma)$ be the $C$-vector space of Drinfeld modular forms for $\Gamma$ of weight $k$ and type $l$ and $M(\Gamma)=\bigoplus_{k,l}M_{k,l}(\Gamma)$ the algebra of all modular forms. Similarly, $M(\Gamma_0(T))=\bigoplus_{k,l}M_{k,l}(\Gamma_0(T))$ is the algebra of modular forms for $\Gamma_0(T)$. It is known since quite some time that $M(\Gamma)=C[g,h]$ with the distinguished modular forms $g\in M_{q-1,0}(\Gamma)$ and $h\in M_{q+1,1}(\Gamma)$, and the same result holds if we consider the $A$-subalgebra $M(\Gamma)_A$ of those modular forms with $u$-expansion coefficients in $A$; here $u$ is the analogue of the classical uniformizer at infinity $q(z)=\exp(2\pi i z)$. However, the situation for congruence subgroups of $\Gamma$ is different; except for a few isolated cases, not much is known about presentations of rings of modular forms. So it constitutes considerable progress that the authors of the present article are able to describe presentations in the following cases: $M(\Gamma_0(T))_A\cong A[U,V,Z]/(UV-Z^{q-1})$ (Theorem 4.4), $M^0(\Gamma_0(T))_A\cong A[U,V]$ (Theorem 4.7). Here $M^0(\Gamma_0(T))=\bigoplus_k M_{k,0}(\Gamma_0(T))$. The results are such that they turn over to any intermediate ring $R$ with $A\subset R\subset C$. They are obtained by specifying modular forms $\Delta_W,\Delta_T\in M_{q-1,0}(\Gamma_0(T))$ and $E_T\in M_{2,1}(\Gamma_0(T))$ and a systematic study of their relations, $u$-expansions, behavior under derivations, etc., from which the above-mentioned theorems follow. The authors also have results (too complicated to present here) about the ring $\overline{M}_p^0(\Gamma_0(T))$ of modular forms $\pmod{p}$, where $p\in A$ is a prime ideal (Theorem 4.13), and about weight filtrations (Theorem 5.2). It is desirable to dispose of similar results for other congruence subgroups, for example the groups $\Gamma_1(T)$, or groups $\Gamma'$ with $\Gamma_1(T)\subset\Gamma'\subset\Gamma_0(T)$.