We provide an introduction to the theory of Eisenstein series and automorphic
forms on real simple Lie groups G, emphasising the role of representation
theory. It is useful to take a slightly wider view and define all objects over
the (rational) adeles A, thereby also paving the way for connections to number
theory, representation theory and the Langlands program. Most of the results we
present are already scattered throughout the mathematics literature but our
exposition collects them together and is driven by examples. Many interesting
aspects of these functions are hidden in their Fourier coefficients with
respect to unipotent subgroups and a large part of our focus is to explain and
derive general theorems on these Fourier expansions. Specifically, we give
complete proofs of the Langlands constant term formula for Eisenstein series on
adelic groups G(A) as well as the Casselman--Shalika formula for the p-adic
spherical Whittaker function associated to unramified automorphic
representations of G(Q_p). In addition, we explain how the classical theory of
Hecke operators fits into the modern theory of automorphic representations of
adelic groups, thereby providing a connection with some key elements in the
Langlands program, such as the Langlands dual group LG and automorphic
L-functions. Somewhat surprisingly, all these results have natural
interpretations as encoding physical effects in string theory. We therefore
also introduce some basic concepts of string theory, aimed toward
mathematicians, emphasising the role of automorphic forms. In particular, we
provide a detailed treatment of supersymmetry constraints on string amplitudes
which enforce differential equations of the same type that are satisfied by
automorphic forms. Our treatise concludes with a detailed list of interesting
open questions and pointers to additional topics which go beyond the scope of
this book.Comment: 326 pages. Detailed and example-driven exposition of the subject with
highlighted applications to string theory. v2: 375 pages. Substantially
extended and small correction
