Note on a theorem of Farkas and Kra (Q829776)

Identities between theta series and other generating series are very useful for obtaining explicit expressions for number-theoretic expressions, especially the number of elements of a fixed norm in a given lattice. This paper constructs formulae for theta series of weight 2 in terms of logarithmic derivatives of eta quotients, and deduces such explicit expressions in many different cases. In more detail, the author constructs meromorphic functions of \(\zeta\in\mathbb{C}\) and \(\tau\) in the upper half-plane \(\mathcal{H}\) by taking quotients of degree 3 polynomials in Jacobi theta functions, such that the resulting functions are invariant under translating \(\zeta\) by integral multiples of \(\tau\) and 1. Then identities are deduced from the Residue Theorem in \(\zeta\), typically involving first and second derivatives of theta functions at \(\zeta=0\). The heat equation transfers second derivatives with respect to \(\zeta\) to first derivatives with respect to \(\tau\), and identities like in references 6, 7, and 10, involving the Jacobi triple product identity, expresses the first derivatives as degree 3 polynomials in theta constants. Moreover, the functions whose derivatives with respect to \(\tau\) are considered can be written in terms of eta quotients (using the Jacobi triple product identity again), whose logarithmic derivatives give simple \(q\)-series. The desired number-theoretic formulae are then obtained by comparing the coefficients of the series on both sides. Note that as one side is the logarithmic derivative of an eta quotient of weight 0, the theta function on the other side is of weight 2, hence it is associated with a lattice of rank 4. The explicit expressions indeed involve, as expected, combinations of the divisor sum function. The evaluated expressions are mostly presentations as positive integral combinations of squares or triangular numbers (or both), but the paper also evaluates two convolution sums of twisted divisor numbers. The paper is divided into 7 sections. Section 1 is a short Introduction, Section 2 contains the basic notations, and Section 3 reviews some basic properties of theta functions. Section 4 then gathers derivative formulae in some characteristics, and Sections 5, 6, and 7 prove the desired formulae (separated according to the level of the theta function in question, which is 4, 6, and 8 respectively).