Friday, 17 February 2017

analytic number theory - Ramanujan's Tau function, an arithmetic property



The problem:




Let τ(n) denote the Ramanujan τ-function and σ(n) be the sum of the positive divisors of n. Show that
(1n)τ(n)=24n1j=1σ(j)τ(nj).





I'm afraid I don't even know how to start on this one.. My main problem is the τ function is defined as the coefficients of the q-series of the modular form Δ, but that isn't (at least to my knowledge) very helpful in handling it. The properties that we have are all of a multiplicative nature (i.e., τ is multiplicative and τ(pa+2)=τ(p)τ(pa+1)p11τ(pa)) which don't seem particularly well suited in a problem involving a sum.



Any hints, even just how to get started, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!




Edit




As per Matt E's message, one can define, for any modular form f, an operator δ so that δf=12θf12E2f, where θ=qddq. We wish to look at δΔ. We have




δΔ=12θΔ12E2Δ=12θ(n=1τ(n)qn)12E2Δ=12q(n=1nτ(n)qn1)12E2Δ=12(n=1nτ(n)qn)12E2Δ.


Now δΔ is a cusp form of weight 14, of which there are none that are non-zero. Thus we must have
12(n=1nτ(n)qn)=12E2Δ.

Thus we may simplify a little and plug in the a series representation of E2 to find

n=1nτ(n)qn=(124n=1σ(n)qn)n=1τ(n)qn.

Expanding the right hand side, and simplifying some more gives
n=1nτ(n)qn=n=1τ(n)qn24n=1σ(n)qnn=1τ(n)qn,

so we have
n=1nτ(n)qnn=1τ(n)qn=24n=1σ(n)qnn=1τ(n)qn.

The end of the tunnel is starting to appear, as the left hand side looks quite nice at this point. We settle both sides into a single sum, so that we may match the coefficients on the left and right hand sides easily. We have
n=1τ(n)(n1)qn=24n=1(n1j=1σ(j)τ(nj)qn),

so multiplying both sides by 1 and matching up the coefficients gives
τ(n)(n1)=24(n1j=1σ(j)τ(nj))

for all n1, as desired.



Answer



Apply the operator Δ discussed in this question to the modular form Δ (sorry for the conflict of notation vis-a-vis Δ!). The result is a modular form of weight 14. What can you say about it?


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