Period functions for Maass wave forms. I

Recall that a Maass wave form on the full modular group Gamma=PSL(2,Z) is a smooth gamma-invariant function u from the upper half-plane H = {x+iy | y>0} to C which is small as y \to \infty and satisfies Delta u = lambda u for some lambda \in C, where Delta = y^2(d^2/dx^2 + d^2/dy^2) is the hyperbolic Laplacian. These functions give a basis for L_2 on the modular surface Gamma\H, with the usual trigonometric waveforms on the torus R^2/Z^2, which are also (for this surface) both the Fourier building blocks for L_2 and eigenfunctions of the Laplacian. Although therefore very basic objects, Maass forms nevertheless still remain mysteriously elusive fifty years after their discovery; in particular, no explicit construction exists for any of these functions for the full modular group. The basic information about them (e.g. their existence and the density of the eigenvalues) comes mostly from the Selberg trace formula: the rest is conjectural with support from extensive numerical computations.Comment: 68 pages, published versio

Quasimodularity and large genus limits of Siegel-Veech constants

Quasimodular forms were first studied in the context of counting torus coverings. Here we show that a weighted version of these coverings with Siegel-Veech weights also provides quasimodular forms. We apply this to prove conjectures of Eskin and Zorich on the large genus limits of Masur-Veech volumes and of Siegel-Veech constants. In Part I we connect the geometric definition of Siegel-Veech constants both with a combinatorial counting problem and with intersection numbers on Hurwitz spaces. We introduce modified Siegel-Veech weights whose generating functions will later be shown to be quasimodular. Parts II and III are devoted to the study of the quasimodularity of the generating functions arising from weighted counting of torus coverings. The starting point is the theorem of Bloch and Okounkov saying that q-brackets of shifted symmetric functions are quasimodular forms. In Part II we give an expression for their growth polynomials in terms of Gaussian integrals and use this to obtain a closed formula for the generating series of cumulants that is the basis for studying large genus asymptotics. In Part III we show that the even hook-length moments of partitions are shifted symmetric polynomials and prove a formula for the q-bracket of the product of such a hook-length moment with an arbitrary shifted symmetric polynomial. This formula proves quasimodularity also for the (-2)-nd hook-length moments by extrapolation, and implies the quasimodularity of the Siegel-Veech weighted counting functions. Finally, in Part IV these results are used to give explicit generating functions for the volumes and Siegel-Veech constants in the case of the principal stratum of abelian differentials. To apply these exact formulas to the Eskin-Zorich conjectures we provide a general framework for computing the asymptotics of rapidly divergent power series.Comment: 107 pages, final version, to appear in J. of the AM

The energy operator for infinite statistics

We construct the energy operator for particles obeying infinite statistics defined by a q-deformation of the Heisenberg algebra. (This paper appeared published in CMP in 1992, but was not archived at the time.)Comment: 6 page

Finite Size XXZ Spin Chain with Anisotropy Parameter Δ=1/2\Delta = {1/2}

We find an analytic solution of the Bethe Ansatz equations (BAE) for the special case of a finite XXZ spin chain with free boundary conditions and with a complex surface field which provides for $U_q(sl(2))$ symmetry of the Hamiltonian. More precisely, we find one nontrivial solution, corresponding to the ground state of the system with anisotropy parameter $\Delta = {1/2}$ corresponding to $q^3 = -1$. With a view to establishing an exact representation of the ground state of the finite size XXZ spin chain in terms of elementary functions, we concentrate on the crossing-parameter $\eta$ dependence around $\eta=\pi/3$ for which there is a known solution. The approach taken involves the use of a physical solution $Q$ of Baxter's t-Q equation, corresponding to the ground state, as well as a non-physical solution $P$ of the same equation. The calculation of $P$ and then of the ground state derivative is covered. Possible applications of this derivative to the theory of percolation have yet to be investigated. As far as the finite XXZ spin chain with periodic boundary conditions is concerned, we find a similar solution for an assymetric case which corresponds to the 6-vertex model with a special magnetic field. For this case we find the analytic value of the ``magnetic moment'' of the system in the corresponding state.Comment: 12 pages, latex, no figure

Power partitions and a generalized eta transformation property

In their famous paper on partitions, Hardy and Ramanujan also raised the question of the behaviour of the number ps(n) of partitions of a positive integer~n into s-th powers and gave some preliminary results. We give first an asymptotic formula to all orders, and then an exact formula, describing the behaviour of the corresponding generating function Ps(q)=∏∞n=1(1−qns)−1 near any root of unity, generalizing the modular transformation behaviour of the Dedekind eta-function in the case s=1. This is then combined with the Hardy-Ramanujan circle method to give a rather precise formula for ps(n) of the same general type of the one that they gave for~s=1. There are several new features, the most striking being that the contributions coming from various roots of unity behave very erratically rather than decreasing uniformly as in their situation. Thus in their famous calculation of p(200) the contributions from arcs of the circle near roots of unity of order 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 have 13, 5, 2, 1 and 1 digits, respectively, but in the corresponding calculation for p2(100000) these contributions have 60, 27, 4, 33, and 16 digits, respectively, of wildly varying size

Strichartz estimates with broken symmetries

In this note we study the eigenvalue problem for a quadratic form associated with Strichartz estimates for the Schrödinger equation, proving in particular a sharp Strichartz inequality for the case of odd initial data. We also describe an alternative method that is applicable to a wider class of matrix problems

Asymptotics of Nahm sums at roots of unity

We give a formula for the radial asymptotics to all orders of the special $q$-hypergeometric series known as Nahm sums at complex roots of unity. This result is used in~\cite{CGZ} to prove one direction of Nahm's conjecturerelating the modularity of Nahm sums to the vanishing of a certain invariant in $K$-theory. The power series occurring in our asymptotic formula are identical to the conjectured asymptotics of the Kashaev invariant of a knot once we convert Neumann-Zagier data into Nahm data, suggesting a deep connectionbetween asymptotics of quantum knot invariants and asymptotics of Nahm sumsthat will be discussed further in a subsequent publication.<br

Dynamics of geodesics, and Maass cusp forms

The correspondence principle in physics between quantum mechanics and classical mechanics suggests deep relations between spectral and geometric entities of Riemannian manifolds. We survey---in a way intended to be accessible to a wide audience of mathematicians---a mathematically rigorous instance of such a relation that emerged in recent years, showing a dynamical interpretation of certain Laplace eigenfunctions of hyperbolic surfaces.Comment: 30 pages, 17 figure