A trace formula for Hecke operators on \(L^2(S^2)\) and modular forms on \(\Gamma_0(4)\) (Q5956172)

For any finite symmetric subset \(R\) of the orthogonal group \(O_3\), a Hecke operator \(T_R\) is defined by \(T_Rf= \sum_{\gamma\in R}f\circ \gamma\) for \(f\) in the Hilbert space \(L^2(S^2)\). The operator \(T_R\) is bounded and selfadjoint, and it leaves invariant the eigenspaces \({\mathcal H}_n\) of the negative Laplacian for the eigenvalues \(\lambda_n= n(n+1)\). Nothing is known about the individual eigenvalues of \(T_R\). The author proves an explicit formula for the trace of \(T_R\) on \({\mathcal H}_n\). The trace is expressed as a sum of the values of the Dirichlet kernel at the rotation angles of \(\gamma\in R\), or as a sum of the values of Chebyshev polynomials at \(1\pm \text{tr}(\gamma)\) for \(\gamma\in R\). For every \(R\) and every \(n\geq 0\), and trace of \(T_R\) on the direct sum of \({\mathcal H}_k\) for \(0\leq k\leq n\) is non-negative. The space \(\mathbb{R}^3\) is identified with the imaginary subspace \(\operatorname {Im}\mathbb{H}\) in the skew field \(\mathbb{H}\) of Hamiltonian quaternions. Every proper rotation \(\gamma\in SO_3\) can be written as \(x\mapsto \alpha x\overline{\alpha}\) for \(x\in \operatorname {Im}\mathbb{H}\), where \(\alpha\) belongs to the sphere \(S^3= \{\alpha\in \mathbb{H}\mid \text{Norm}(\alpha)= 1\}\), and is unique up to sign. In this description, the trace of \(T_R\) on \({\mathcal H}_n\) is a sum of the values of Chebyshev polynomials at \(\text{Re}(\alpha)\) for \(\alpha\in R\). As an example, for positive integers \(m\), let \(R_m\) be the set of all quaternions \(\frac{1}{\sqrt{m}}\beta\), where \(\text{Norm}(\beta)= m\) and \(\beta\) has integral components. Then the Fourier series \[ \varphi_n(\tau)= \delta_{0,n}+ \sum_{m=1}^\infty m^n (\operatorname {tr} T_{R_m}\mid{\mathcal H}_n) e^{2\pi im\tau} \] is identified with a theta series attached to a harmonic polynomial \(P_{2n}\) in 4 variables. It follows that \(\varphi_n\) is an entire modular form of weight \(2n+2\) on \(\Gamma_0(4)\), a cusp form for \(n\geq 1\). This result was conjectured by F. Grunewald. The congruence theta functions attached to \(P_{2n}\) are used to define modular forms with characters on \(\Gamma_0(4)\). It is shown that every space of modular forms or cusp forms of this kind has a basis consisting of products of congruence theta functions for \(P_{2n}\). A bunch of special examples give identities, most of them previously known, among modular forms such as Jacobi theta series, the Dedekind eta function, and Eisenstein series.