Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2003 / iii / Paper 24 / 1 / ii / Solution

The preceding dimension of level-one modular forms gives $\dim M_{16}=2$ and $\dim S_{16}=\dim M_4=1$. Thus $E_4\Delta$, which begins with $q$, spans $S_{16}$. A normalized weight-sixteen Eisenstein series and $E_4^4$ both have constant term one, so their difference is a multiple of $E_4\Delta$.

There is a normalization error in the printed auxiliary expansion: for the usual normalized $E_{16}$, the coefficient multiplier is $16320/3617$, rather than $255/(8\cdot 3617)$. Indeed, the Fourier expansion of a normalized Eisenstein series gives $-32/B_{16}$, and the Bernoulli number $B_{16}=-3617/510$ gives $16320/3617$. The printed multiplier is smaller by a factor of $512$. With the correct normalization, the first Fourier coefficients yieldComparing all positive-index coefficients therefore gives the exact identityThe Fourier coefficients of $E_4^4$ are integers, as are those of $E_4\Delta$: $E_4$ has its integral divisor-sum expansion and the modular discriminant has the product $q{\prod }_{r\ge 1}(1-q^r{)}^{24}$. Also $3456000+16320=960\cdot 3617$, and $\gcd (16320,3617)=1$. Reducing the identity modulo $3617$ and cancelling the invertible multiplier proves the weight-sixteen Eisenstein congruenceThe desired congruence is valid; it is the auxiliary normalization in the PDF that requires correction.