Vector valued theta functions associated with binary quadratic forms (Q312779)

Definite integral binary quadratic forms whose discriminants are fundamental are essentially ideal classes in imaginary quadratic fields. To such an object one attaches a vector-valued theta series, which is a holomorphic modular form of weight 1, level 1, and the Weil representation associated with the maximal order. The different ideals are related by the action of the finite adelic points of the corresponding Gspin group (this is essentially the finite idele group of the imaginary quadratic field in question), and a character of the associated class group yields a corresponding combination of theta functions. Note that the action of idele classes as Gspin elements is not the standard one, but its square (which explains why the genus group plays a role in this theory). The main result of this paper is that the combinations arising from these characters modulo complex conjugation form a basis for the space of these theta functions. Moreover, this basis is orthogonal with respect to the Petersson inner product, and respects the decomposition into Eisenstein series (associated with the trivial character) and cusp forms (arising from the non-trivial ones). Hence if \(t\) is the number of primes dividing the discriminant of the number field and \(h\) is the class number then the dimension is \(\frac{1}{2}(h+2^{t-1})\). Additional results for scalar-valued theta functions are also established as a consequence. The proof amounts to evaluating the pairing of the theta series associated with two classes (followed by standard calculations with characters). To do so, the author embeds the direct sum of the definite lattice and its additive inverse into the unimodular lattice of signature \((2,2)\) (in explicit terms), and applies a seesaw identity for identifying the pairing in question with the (Borcherds) theta lift of the constant function (which is well known), evaluated at special points. Then certain lifts from scalar-valued modular forms to vector-valued modular forms are investigated, and shown to have neater results for special discriminant forms. Taking the automorphisms of discriminant forms into account, a similar basis is established for the space of symmetric theta functions, using which the norm of scalar-valued theta functions can be evaluated when the discriminant form is prime. The paper is divided into 6 Sections. Section 1 is the Introduction, which also contains the main result for (non-symmetric) vector-valued theta functions. Section 2 reviews the Gspin group of 2-dimensional quadratic spaces, and sets some notation for what follows. In Section 3 symmetric spaces and theta lifts in signatures \((2,0)\) and \((2,2)\) are investigated, and Section 4 uses these results to prove the main theorem. Section 5 presents the lifts from scalar-valued modular forms to vector-valued modular forms and their required properties, and Section 6 considers symmetric vector-valued modular forms and proves the consequences for the scalar-valued theta functions. The paper is easy to follow, and the few typos that appear here and there do not disturb the reading (as the meaning remains clear).