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Fix an even weight $k$ and write $\Gamma =S{L}_2(\mathbb{Z})$. Extend the slash operator for modular forms to positive-determinant rational matrices by the determinant-normalized slash operatorThe automorphy factor identity makes this a right action. Let ${\mathcal{D}}_n$ be the integral matrices of determinant $n>0$. Their left $\Gamma$-cosets have unique determinant-n matrix representatives for Hecke operatorsAn integral row operation obtained from Bézout's identity makes the first column $(a,0{)}^T$, and a row shear reduces the other top entry modulo $d$, proving this description. The usual Hecke operator isThis normalization has $T_1=1$. Right multiplication by $\Gamma$ permutes the left cosets in ${\mathcal{D}}_n$, so $T_{n}f$ has the same modular transformation law as $f$. Each summand is holomorphic in $\mathbb{H}$. Holomorphy at the cusp and preservation of cusp forms follow directly from the coefficient formula below; the full modular group has only one cusp orbit. Thus the operators act on both $M_k$ and $S_k$.

If $f={\sum }_{r\ge 0}{a}_r{q}^r$, summing over $b$ kills terms unless $d\mid r$. Writing $r=d\ell$ gives output exponent $a\ell$, so a term of exponent $m$ requires $a\mid m$ and has original index $r=dm/a=nm/a^2$. Its multiplier is $n^{k-1}{d}^{1-k}=a^{k-1}$. The Fourier coefficients of a composite-index Hecke operator are consequentlyFor $m=0$, this means $a_0(T_{n}f)={\sigma }_{k-1}(n)a_0(f)$. In particular $a_1(T_{n}f)=a_n(f)$. For a prime number $p$,with a nonexistent fractional-index coefficient interpreted as zero.

The Hecke multiplication relations follow from these coefficients. For coprime indices, the two divisor choices combine uniquely and give $T_m{T}_n=T_{mn}$. For prime powers put $A=p^{k-1}$, and, on formal Fourier series, let $U_p(\sum a_m{q}^m)=\sum a_{pm}{q}^m$ and $V_p(\sum a_m{q}^m)=\sum a_m{q}^{pm}$. These individual maps need not preserve level one, but $U_p{V}_p=1$, and the coefficient formula givesMultiplying on the left by $T_p=U_p+A{V}_p$ and cancelling $U_p{V}_p$ yieldsInduction gives $T_{p^u}{T}_{p^v}={\sum }_{j=0}^{\min (u,v)}{p}^{j(k-1)}{T}_{p^{u+v-2j}}$; combining distinct prime factors provesThe modular Hecke algebra is therefore commutative and generated by its prime-index operators. The identity $U_p{V}_p=1$, rather than the generally false reversed identity, is what proves the prime-power recurrence.

On $S_k$ use the positive definite Petersson inner productExponential cusp decay makes this integral finite. The Hecke operators are self-adjoint for the Petersson inner product. Here is the correspondence argument. For a positive-determinant matrix $\alpha$, set $H=\Gamma \cap {\alpha }^{-1}\Gamma \alpha$. The finite sum over the double coset $\Gamma \alpha \Gamma$ unfolds its pairing intoChanging variables $z=\alpha \tau$ preserves hyperbolic area, and $\mathrm{Im}(\alpha \tau )=\det (\alpha )y/|c\tau +d{|}^2$ shows that the determinant-normalized slash factors transfer $\alpha$ from $f$ to ${\alpha }^{-1}$ on $g$. The new quotient is by $\alpha H{\alpha }^{-1}=\Gamma \cap \alpha \Gamma {\alpha }^{-1}$; folding it back gives the operator for the reversed double coset. For $\alpha \in {\mathcal{D}}_n$, its adjugate $n{\alpha }^{-1}$ again lies in ${\mathcal{D}}_n$. Positive scalar matrices act trivially in the determinant normalization, so ${\alpha }^{-1}$ and its adjugate give the same action. The adjugate involution preserves the entire determinant-$n$ correspondence, and the external normalization $n^{k/2-1}$ is real. Thus

Finite-dimensional spectral theory now gives a simultaneous orthonormal eigenbasis on $S_k$, since the operators commute and are self-adjoint. For a common Hecke eigenform $f$ with eigenvalues ${\lambda }_n$, the first-coefficient formula gives $a_n(f)={\lambda }_n{a}_1(f)$. If $a_1(f)=0$, every coefficient vanishes and $f=0$, a contradiction. Rescale each eigenform to have $a_1=1$. The resulting basis is orthogonal, andAll these eigenvalues and coefficients are real. A fixed simultaneous eigenspace is one-dimensional, because its normalized Fourier coefficients are uniquely determined by the eigenvalues.

Applying the multiplication relations to an eigenform givesThe recurrence yields ${\sum }_{r\ge 0}{a}_{p^r}{X}^r=(1-a_{p}X+p^{k-1}{X}^2{)}^{-1}$. Multiplicativity then gives the Euler product of a Hecke eigenforminitially in a right half-plane, for example $\mathrm{Re}s>k/2+1$ using the Fourier coefficient bound for a cusp form. Modular inversion and the Mellin transform of a cusp-form L-function continue $\Lambda (f,s)=(2\pi {)}^{-s}\Gamma (s)L(f,s)$ to an entire function and give $\Lambda (f,s)=i^k\Lambda (f,k-s)$.

There is also an integral structure. If $d=\dim S_k$, choose $F_j={\Delta }^j{R}_{k-12j}$, $1\le j\le d$, with $R_w$ a monomial in $E_4,E_6$ of weight $w$ and constant term one. These forms have integral Fourier coefficients and start with $q^j$; their first $d$ coefficients form a unitriangular matrix. They are a basis, and every cusp form with integral coefficients is an integral combination of them, by successive elimination of its first $d$ coefficients. The coefficient formula shows that $T_n$ preserves this lattice. Its characteristic polynomial is consequently monic with integer coefficients, proving that the Hecke eigenvalues are algebraic integers. Together with self-adjointness, this gives real algebraic integers without requiring any unproved bound for their sizes.

For even $k\ge 4$, the full space decomposes as $M_k=\mathbb{C}{E}_k\oplus S_k$. The normalized Eisenstein series is a simultaneous eigenform withIts coefficients are $-2k{\sigma }_{k-1}(m)/B_k$, and the elementary divisor identity ${\sigma }_{k-1}(m){\sigma }_{k-1}(n)={\sum }_{d\mid \gcd (m,n)}{d}^{k-1}{\sigma }_{k-1}(mn/d^2)$ verifies the eigenvalue formula, including the constant coefficient. Thus the cusp eigenbasis plus $E_k$ diagonalizes the operators on $M_k$. Weight two and odd weights have no forms; in weight zero the constant function has eigenvalue ${\sigma }_{-1}(n)$. As a concrete cuspidal example, $S_{12}=\mathbb{C}\Delta$, so $T_n\Delta =\tau (n)\Delta$ for its Fourier coefficients, and the recurrence gives $\tau (p^2)=\tau (p{)}^2-p^{11}$.

Fix an even weight and use the determinant-normalized slash operator for modular formsIt is unchanged by positive scalar multiples of $A$ and satisfies $(f|A)|B=f|AB$. The determinant-n matrix representatives for Hecke operators areIndeed, integer row operations with determinant one send the first column of an integral determinant-$n$ matrix to $(a,0{)}^t$, with $a>0$; the second diagonal entry is $d=n/a>0$, and a row shear reduces $b$ modulo $d$. This gives unique representatives of the left modular-group orbits.

Define the Hecke operator byThe set of integral matrices of determinant $n$ is stable under right multiplication by the modular group. Right multiplication therefore permutes its left orbits, proving the modular transformation law for $T_{n}f$. Each summand is holomorphic in the upper half-plane. Its imaginary argument tends to infinity at the cusp, so the formula preserves cusp holomorphy and maps $M_k$ to itself and $S_k$ to itself.

Expand each summand in q. The finite sum over $b$ vanishes unless the Fourier index is divisible by $d$, when it equals $d$. The coefficient at $q^m$ then receives a contribution for each $a\mid \gcd (m,n)$, giving the Fourier coefficients of a composite-index Hecke operator formulaFor $m=0$ interpret the sum over all divisors of $n$, so the constant coefficient is ${\sigma }_{k-1}(n)a_0(f)$. In particular $a_1(T_{n}f)=a_n(f)$ and integral coefficients are preserved.

Here is a useful direct derivation of the Hecke multiplication relations. On formal Fourier series put $U_{p}f={\sum }_m{a}_{pm}{q}^m$ and $V_{p}f=f(q^p)$. They obey $U_p{V}_p=1$, although $V_p{U}_p$ is generally not the identity. The coefficient formula givesMultiplying by $T_p=U_p+p^{k-1}{V}_p$ and using $U_p{V}_p=1$ separates the terms with $j=0$ from the others and yieldsFor distinct primes, all the relevant shift operators commute. Thus $T_m{T}_n=T_{mn}$ when $\gcd (m,n)=1$, and each prime-power operator is a polynomial in its prime operator. This proves commutativity. Induction on the smaller of two prime exponents, using the displayed recurrence, gives $T_{p^r}{T}_{p^s}={\sum }_{j=0}^{\min (r,s)}{p}^{j(k-1)}{T}_{p^{r+s-2j}}$. Factoring general indices into primes then provesThe auxiliary shifts need not themselves preserve the level-one form space; they are used only to prove identities of coefficient sequences.

For cusp forms, the Petersson inner product isIt converges by exponential cusp decay, is positive-definite, and makes the Hecke operators self-adjoint. For the change-of-variable argument, the determinant-normalized slash action compensates exactly for the change in $y^k$, while hyperbolic area is invariant. Integrating a correspondence term in the opposite direction replaces its matrix by its inverse. The adjugate $A^{\#}=n{A}^{-1}$ is again an integral matrix of determinant $n$; it has the same slash action as $A^{-1}$, because scalar matrices act trivially. Summing over the two sets of representatives, equivalently over the common finite covering domains of the correspondence, interchanges $f$ and $g$ and proves $⟨T_{n}f,g⟩=⟨f,T_{n}g⟩$. This explains Hecke operators are self-adjoint for the Petersson inner product with the present normalization.

Commuting self-adjoint operators on the finite-dimensional cusp space have a common orthonormal eigenbasis: diagonalize one, restrict the others to its invariant eigenspaces and repeat. If $f$ is a nonzero common Hecke eigenform, $a_n(f)=a_1(T_{n}f)={\lambda }_n{a}_1(f)$. The first coefficient cannot vanish, since then every coefficient would vanish. Normalize it to one. The eigenvalue is then ${\lambda }_n=a_n(f)$, and the common eigenspace is one-dimensional because all its normalized Fourier coefficients are fixed. The eigenvalues are real by self-adjointness and are algebraic integers, since the Hecke operators act by integer matrices on the integral cusp-form lattice from Question 1. The integral echelon basis and the operator identity there also show that $T_1,\dots ,T_{d-1}$ are an integral basis of the integral Hecke algebra of level-one cusp forms; independence follows by evaluating their first-coefficient functionals on $g_1,\dots ,g_{d-1}$.

The eigenform's coefficient relations areThey give the Euler product of a Hecke eigenformin a sufficiently far right half-plane. The Mellin transform of a cusp-form L-function completes this to $\Lambda (f,s)=(2\pi {)}^{-s}\Gamma (s)L(f,s)={\int }_0^{\infty }f(iy)y^{s-1}dy$. Splitting at one and using $f(i/y)=i^k{y}^{k}f(iy)$ givesExponential decay makes this an entire function of $s$, and the formula proves $\Lambda (f,s)=i^k\Lambda (f,k-s)$.

On the noncuspidal line in positive even weights $k\ge 4$, the normalized Eisenstein series has eigenvalues ${\sigma }_{k-1}(n)$, as follows from the same divisor formula for its coefficients; $M_k=\mathbb{C}{E}_k\oplus S_k$. As a cuspidal example, $S_{12}$ is spanned by the normalized modular discriminant. Its coefficients $\tau (n)$ are the Hecke eigenvalues, and the recurrence gives $\tau (4)=\tau (2{)}^2-2^{11}=-1472$ from $\tau (2)=-24$. Thus the Hecke theory converts analytic forms into multiplicative arithmetic data.

With the determinant-normalized slash operator, let $W_N=\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& -1\\ N& 0\end{array}\right)$ and $Jf=i^k(f{|}_k{W}_N)=g$. Conjugation by $W_N$ preserves ${\Gamma }_1(N)$, and rational slash operators preserve modular cusp holomorphy and vanishing. Hence $g$ is also a cusp form at that level. Direct substitution gives $J^{2}f=f$; the factor $i^k$ cancels the central weight sign.

Put $F(y)=f(iy/\sqrt{N})$ and $G(y)=g(iy/\sqrt{N})$. The defining formula gives the exact relationsIn the initial half-plane of absolute convergence, termwise integration of the Fourier series and the Gamma function yield the Mellin transform of a cusp-form L-functionThe scaling of $y$ accounts for $N^{s/2}$ in the completion. At infinity $F$ and $G$ decay exponentially. At zero the boxed relation expresses $F$ as a power times an exponentially decaying function of $1/y$. Thus this integral converges locally uniformly for every complex $s$, including after differentiation in $s$, and defines an entire function.

Splitting at one and changing $y$ to $1/y$ in the lower integral givesApplying the same formula to $g$ interchanges $F,G$, because $J^2=1$. It proves the phase-normalized Fricke functional equationThe entire function here is the completion, despite the apparent poles of the gamma factor in its initial product formula.

Hecke operators give a commuting family of arithmetic symmetries of modular forms. They preserve the weight and cusp forms, and diagonalizing them turns the Fourier coefficients of a modular form into multiplicative arithmetic data. Odd weight spaces are zero by the action of $-I$; in weight zero the operators act on constants by $T_{n}1={\sigma }_{-1}(n)$. For the substantive theory, fix an even positive weight $k$ and $\Gamma =S{L}_2(\mathbb{Z})$, and use the following normalization consistently.

Extend the slash operator for modular forms to $G{L}_2^{+}(\mathbb{Q})$ byIt is a right action and positive scalar matrices act trivially. Let ${\mathcal{D}}_n$ be the integral matrices of determinant $n>0$. The determinant-n matrix representatives for Hecke operators for $\Gamma \backslash {\mathcal{D}}_n$ areInteger row operations reduce the first column to $(a,0)$, after which a row shear reduces $b$ modulo $d$; uniqueness follows from these same conditions. The Hecke operator isRight multiplication by $\Gamma$ permutes the left cosets, so $T_{n}f$ is again invariant under the weight-$k$ slash operator for modular forms. Each summand is a holomorphic function on the complex upper half-plane, and the coefficient formula below proves holomorphy at a cusp. Thus $T_n$ acts on $M_k(\Gamma )$ and preserves $S_k(\Gamma )$. Geometrically, these operators sum over index-$n$ sublattices, or equivalently the associated finite-degree correspondences between complex tori; the factors above compensate for the weight's response to lattice scaling.

Write $f={\sum }_{r\ge 0}{a}_r{q}^r$. The sum over $b$ is zero unless $d\mid r$, in which case it is $d$. Substituting into the displayed definition proves the Fourier coefficients of a composite-index Hecke operator formulawith $\gcd (n,0)=n$. In particular, $a_0(T_{n}f)={\sigma }_{k-1}(n)a_0(f)$ and $a_1(T_{n}f)=a_n(f)$. At a prime this becomeswhere $a_{r/p}=0$ if $p\nmid r$.

The Hecke multiplication relations areThey can be checked by applying the coefficient formula twice and regrouping the divisors. More explicitly, coprime indices factor independently, so $T_m{T}_n=T_{mn}$ if $(m,n)=1$. At a prime, separating the terms in the divisor sum according to whether one more factor $p$ is available givesIteration gives $T_{p^a}{T}_{p^b}={\sum }_{j=0}^{\min (a,b)}{p}^{j(k-1)}{T}_{p^{a+b-2j}}$; combining the prime factors gives the full relation. Hence all Hecke operators commute, $T_1=1$, and the Hecke algebra of modular forms is generated by the $T_p$ together with scalars.

The Petersson inner product on the finite-dimensional cusp form space isThe integrand is invariant and the integral converges because cusp forms decay exponentially at the cusp. The Hecke operators are self-adjoint for the Petersson inner product at level one. To see the underlying adjoint calculation, unfold the finite correspondence for a determinant-$n$ matrix and change variable $\tau \mapsto \alpha \tau$. The invariant hyperbolic measure and the determinant-normalized slash factors transfer $\alpha$ from one side of the inner product to ${\alpha }^{-1}$. Scalar matrices act trivially, so one can replace ${\alpha }^{-1}$ by the integral adjugate $n{\alpha }^{-1}$, which again has determinant $n$. This reverses the correspondence and permutes the same collection of terms, with the same real prefactor $n^{k/2-1}$. Summing givesCommuting self-adjoint operators on a finite-dimensional inner product space admit a common orthonormal basis of eigenvectors. Thus $S_k(\Gamma )$ has a basis of simultaneous Hecke eigenforms, with real eigenvalues.

A nonzero simultaneous cuspidal Hecke eigenform has $a_1\ne 0$: if $T_{n}f={\lambda }_{n}f$ and $a_1=0$, comparison of the first coefficients gives $a_n={\lambda }_n{a}_1=0$ for every $n\ge 1$, so $f=0$. Normalize $a_1=1$. ThenConsequently the full Fourier series is determined by the eigenvalues, and a simultaneous eigenvalue system has a one-dimensional eigenspace. The Hecke multiplication relations translate intoIn particular the coefficients are multiplicative at coprime indices and are determined by the prime coefficients. This is the elementary multiplicity-one statement for normalized level-one Hecke eigenforms.

The Hecke eigenvalues are algebraic integers. One way to explain the arithmetic input is to use the rational structure supplied by the graded ring $M_{\ast }(\Gamma ,\mathbb{Q})=\mathbb{Q}[E_4,E_6]$. The rational cusp form space has a basis with integral Fourier coefficients, for example from appropriate monomials in $E_4,E_6,\Delta$. Its subgroup of forms whose entire expansions are integral is a full lattice: a finite initial coefficient map is injective by the valence formula for the modular group, so it embeds this subgroup into a finite-rank integer module. The coefficient formula shows that every $T_n$ preserves this lattice, and therefore has a monic integral characteristic polynomial. Its eigenvalues are algebraic integers. Simultaneous diagonalization also makes their number field finite over $\mathbb{Q}$; conjugating the rational coefficient data gives another eigenform, whose eigenvalues are again real by self-adjointness. Thus the coefficient field is totally real.

For a normalized cuspidal Hecke eigenform, define its L-function of a cusp form by $L(f,s)={\sum }_{n\ge 1}{a}_n{n}^{-s}$. The coefficient relations yield the Euler product of a Hecke eigenformIndeed the prime-power recurrence gives ${\sum }_{r\ge 0}{a}_{p^r}{X}^r=(1-a_{p}X+p^{k-1}{X}^2{)}^{-1}$, and multiplicativity assembles these factors. These identities hold analytically in an initial right half-plane, as well as formally. For instance boundedness of $y^{k/2}|f(\tau )|$ on the full complex upper half-plane gives $a_n=O(n^{k/2})$, so $\mathrm{Re}s>k/2+1$ suffices for absolute convergence.

The Mellin transform of a cusp-form L-function relates this arithmetic to the modular transformation:Splitting at one and using $f(i/y)=i^k{y}^{k}f(iy)$ givesExponential cusp decay makes the last integral entire in $s$. This proves the analytic continuation and functional equation of the L-function of a cusp form, complementing its Euler product. The root number is $i^k=(-1{)}^{k/2}$.

Two examples show the scope of the theory. For even $k\ge 4$, the Eisenstein series $E_k$ is an eigenform with $T_n{E}_k={\sigma }_{k-1}(n)E_k$. This follows from its divisor-sum expansion and the same multiplicativity relations; its associated positive-index Dirichlet series is proportional to $\zeta (s)\zeta (s-k+1)$. The constant coefficient gives $M_k(\Gamma )=\mathbb{C}{E}_k\oplus S_k(\Gamma )$, so an eigenbasis of the cusp space together with $E_k$ gives an eigenbasis of the whole modular-form space. The ordinary Petersson inner product above is only used on the cusp space, where it converges. In weight twelve the valence formula for the modular group gives $\dim S_{12}=1$: cancellation of the first coefficients of two independent cusp forms would give a nonzero form with order at infinity at least two, exceeding $12/12$. Thus the normalized modular discriminant is a Hecke eigenform; writing $\Delta ={\sum }_{n\ge 1}\tau (n)q^n$ gives the Ramanujan tau function relations $\tau (mn)=\tau (m)\tau (n)$ for coprime $m,n$ and $\tau (p^{r+1})=\tau (p)\tau (p^r)-p^{11}\tau (p^{r-1})$.

Put $g=f{|}_k[{\alpha }_N]$. Termwise Mellin transform in the initial half-plane givesso $\Lambda (f,s)=N^{s/2}I(f,s)$.

From the definition of the slash action,or equivalentlySubstituting $y=1/(Nt)$ in the Mellin integral therefore givesMultiplying by $N^{s/2}$ and recognizing the completed function on the right yields

At infinity, both $f(iy)$ and $g(iy)$ decay exponentially because they are cusp forms. The transformation just used converts the behavior of $f(iy)$ near zero into the exponential decay of $g(i/(Ny))$ at infinity. Consequently $I(f,s)$ converges absolutely for every $s\in \mathbb{C}$ after splitting the integral at one and applying that substitution to the part near zero. It is locally uniformly convergent in $s$, hence entire, and agrees with the original Dirichlet series in its initial domain. This proves the analytic continuation and the stated functional equation, as summarized by the Mellin transform of a cusp-form L-function.