Extend the Dirichlet character periodically to all integers, putting when . Its Dirichlet L-function, initially on , is
The Euler product follows from unique prime factorization and absolute convergence; a Dirichlet character is completely multiplicative on this extension. Write for the principal Dirichlet character, equal to one on units and zero elsewhere.
For a nonprincipal Dirichlet character , character orthogonality gives . Explicitly, multiplication by a unit with permutes the unit residues and multiplies this sum by , forcing it to vanish. For set
The numerator is at zero and the denominator is , so is bounded, indeed analytic, near zero; it decays exponentially at infinity. Initially for , absolute convergence justifies
This Mellin transform integral is holomorphic for , locally uniformly in , and division by the Gamma function proves the requested analytic continuation to the left of the line one.
In fact, the same argument proves Mellin continuation of a nonprincipal Dirichlet L-function to the entire plane. If at zero, subtract this Taylor polynomial on and add its explicit integrals:
The last integral is holomorphic on . Its possible simple poles at nonpositive integers cancel against zeros of . Letting increase shows that is an entire function, without any primitivity assumption.
For real , use the absolutely convergent Euler product logarithm
The higher-power remainder has the uniform estimate
For a nonprincipal Dirichlet character , invoke the allowed Nonvanishing of a nonprincipal Dirichlet L-function at one. Its holomorphy and nonvanishing give a holomorphic logarithm on a small disk about one. On the connected real interval , differs from this logarithm by a fixed element of : the difference is continuous with exponential one. Thus the prime-character sum near one is bounded. This branch argument is needed for complex-valued Dirichlet characters.
For ,
The finite product has a positive limit as , and the residue-one pole of the Riemann zeta function gives
Here for nonprincipal Dirichlet characters means bounded complex magnitude.
Finally, for a residue class coprime to , Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters gives
Only primes not dividing occur, so the character orthogonality applies to every term. This sum diverges as . A finite collection of primes would give a bounded sum, a contradiction. Every reduced residue class contains infinitely many primes. This is the Dirichlet theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions; the coprimality hypothesis is essential.
First establish rational conjugation of finite-index modular subgroups without assuming that is a congruence subgroup. Multiply by a positive integer to obtain an integral matrix , and let . Conjugation is unchanged by this scalar. If , then
Thus the principal congruence subgroup is contained in . It has finite index because reduction modulo has finite image. Inside , pullback under conjugation of has relative index at most . Consequently
This argument does not assert that an arbitrary finite-index subgroup contains a principal congruence subgroup.
Use the determinant-normalized slash operator
The positive real power of the determinant is used; on this reduces to the usual slash operator for modular forms. The automorphy factor identity gives the right-action rule .
A modular form on a finite-index subgroup of integer weight is a holomorphic function on the complex upper half-plane, invariant under this weight- action of , and holomorphic at a cusp at each of its cusps. A cusp of a modular group is a orbit in . If carries infinity to its representative, choose a positive integer with . Such exists by finite index. Then is periodic and has a convergent expansion in near zero; holomorphy means no negative exponents, and being a cusp form means zero constant term. Using an actual translation period avoids possible signs if a smaller width of a cusp is defined only modulo the center, particularly in odd weights.
For cusp holomorphy under rational slash operators, choose with , possible by completing a primitive integer pair to a determinant-one matrix. Then , with . Up to a nonzero constant factor,
The imaginary part of the argument tends to infinity with that of , so this remains bounded by the cusp expansion of . It tends to zero if is a cusp form. Moreover is invariant under : for , and the right-action rule applies. Finite index gives a translation period for , so boundedness is a removable singularity at zero in that periodic parameter. This proves holomorphy at infinity. For every other cusp, apply the same argument to the rational matrix , with . Thus all cusp conditions hold, and
For the character twist by rational translations of a cusp form, put and . For , direct conjugation gives
Indeed and . Every is therefore -invariant and vanishes at all its cusps by the preceding rational-translate argument. Their finite weighted sum is a cusp form, for every Dirichlet character:
There is, however, a missing primitivity hypothesis in the printed final expansion claim. The exact Fourier expansion of a modular form is always
Values of a Dirichlet character on units have modulus one, so . For unit , substitution gives , where is the Gauss sum of a Dirichlet character. For nonunit , this vanishing formula requires a primitive Dirichlet character.
Here is its proof in that case. Choose a prime . Primitivity supplies a unit with : otherwise the character would factor through the surjective reduction to units modulo . Surjectivity follows by lifting a unit and, if needed, adjusting the lift to avoid the additional prime , using the Chinese remainder theorem. Multiplication by fixes because , but multiplies the character factor by a nontrivial constant. Hence . The finite Fourier transform of a primitive Dirichlet character now gives the corrected formula
The constant is nonzero: finite exponential orthogonality gives , whereas the proved formula makes this . Thus .
For a concrete counterexample to the printed unrestricted claim, take , the principal Dirichlet character, and . The translation sum is , whose coefficient is . Any constant multiple of the proposed odd-index-only series has coefficient zero. Thus the general modularity conclusion is proved, while the claimed simplification is false without the stated extra hypothesis.
For real , the logarithm defined by the Euler product of a Dirichlet L-function differs from by a quantity of absolute value at most . If , a local holomorphic logarithm differs from this continuous logarithm by one fixed multiple of on a short real interval, so stays bounded as . For the principal Dirichlet character, the pole of the Riemann zeta function instead gives . Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters then makes the sum over any reduced residue class diverge, proving infinitude of its primes.
The principal Dirichlet character modulo is one on integers coprime to and zero on all other integers. Its Dirichlet L-function is , so it has a simple pole at one. For it is induced from the character of modulus one and is not a primitive Dirichlet character.