Modular units, divisor class groups, and the

q-difference equations of Selberg.

Amanda Folsom

Abstract
The results within this article are based upon the discovery of a particular
family of modular units that arise naturally from functional solutions to higher
order q-recurrence equations given by Selberg in his work generalizing the Rogers-
Ramanujan identities. One objective is to exhibit various fundamental algebraic
roles played by these units. In particular, these modular units give rise to a
subgroup of the cuspidal divisor class group in the Jacobian of the modular curves
X(`) that we describe explicitly, including a cuspidal divisor class number formula
given in terms of products of L-functions to which we compare the classical relative
class number formula within the cyclotomic fields. These results comprise part of
the author’s 2006 Ph.D. thesis [4] where within class field theory their special values
(and also specializations of generalizations of these modular units) are shown to
generate class fields and also cyclotomic unit groups.

1. Introduction

For any ` ∈ N, let F` be the modular function field with respect to the principal congru-
ence subgroup Γ(`) = {γ ∈ SL2 (Z) | γ ≡ 1 mod `} defined over Q(ζ` ), where ζ` = e2πi/` .
The invertible elements in the integral closure of the ring Q[j] ⊂ F` form a group
U` , the modular unit group of level `, where

j = j(τ ) = q −1 + 744 + 196884q + · · · (1)

is the classical modular invariant. The results of this paper are based upon the discovery
of a particular family of modular units

U`C = h{r`,j (τ ) | 1 ≤ j ≤ (` − 3)/2}i ⊂ U` (2)

with generators r`,j (τ ), 1 ≤ j ≤ (` − 3)/2 defined in §3 using functional solutions to

higher order q-recurrence equations found in the work of Selberg [20]. In (2) and what
follows, hxi denotes the group generated by x.
For a Fuchsian group Γ of the first kind, the natural action of Γ on the upper
half complex plane H gives rise to the quotient space Γ\H∗ , where we let * denote
compactification, and this quotient space is biregularly isomorphic to a nonsingular
algebraic curve X defined over a subfield of C. The Jacobian variety J of the curve
X can be identified with the quotient of the degree 0 divisors DX0 on the curve X by
divisors of modular functions FX with respect to Γ. That is,

J ∼
= FX \ DX0 . (3)

1
 A finite set of points A ⊂ X on the curve defines a subgroup CA ⊂ J by considering
the quotient of degree zero divisors supported on A modulo modular functions with
respect to Γ whose divisors are supported on A. It has been of interest to find and study
various A that give rise to subgroups of J of finite order. With such A, a subsequent
problem is to provide an explicit computation of the order of CA .
Here, we provide an explicit class number formula for the subgroup of the Jacobian
determined by the group of modular units U`C generated by the units r`,j , 1 ≤ j ≤
(` − 3)/2. We will see (in Proposition 2) that within the modular unit group, the groups
U`C may be characterized precisely in terms of their divisors. In what follows, we let
supp(x) refer to the support of x, and div(y) refer to the divisor of y. Let

Sup` = supp(div U`C )

D0+ = {degree 0 divisors d on X(`) | supp(d) ⊆ SupC
` }
F + = {div(f ) | f ∈ U`C }
We define a subgroup of the full cuspidal divisor class group in the Jacobian of X(`) ∼
=
Γ(`)\H∗ by
C`+ = F + \D0+ . (4)
Theorem 1. Let ` = 2k + 1 be prime. Then
C`+ ∼
= R0 /R0 `θ+ . (5)
The order of the divisor class group C`+ = D0+ /F + is given by
`−3
Y
|C`+ | = [R0 : R0 `θ+ ] = ` 2 −L(−1; χ), (6)
χ6=1

where the product ranges over non-trivial characters of the subgroup

+
C(`) ⊆ C2 (`)/{±1} of the quotient of the degree two Cartan group, where
C(`) ∼
+
= (Z/`Z)∗ /{±1}.
The identification of C`+ with a certain Stickelberger quotient R0 /R0 `θ+ , and the
+
subgroup C(`) will be described in §4. For the Jacobian variety J1 (N ) of the curve
X1 (N ) ∼
= Γ1 (N )\H∗ considered over the field Q, where
© ¯ ¡ ¢ª
Γ1 (N ) ∼
= γ ∈ SL2 (Z) ¯ ≡ 10 1∗ mod N, (7)

a conjecture of B. Conrad, Edixhoven, and W. Stein [3] predicts the order of the rational
torsion J1 (N )tors
Q ⊂ J1 (N ). Their conjectured order, rewritten here in terms of L-
functions, is an integer divisor of the class number formula given in (6) associated to the
modular unit group UNC .

2
Conjecture. (B. Conrad, Edixhoven, and Stein [3]) For ` prime,
Y
|J1 (`)(Q)tors | = ` −L(−1; χ) (8)
χ6=1

where the product ranges over non-trivial even characters of conductor `. Equivalently,
the rational torsion subgroup of J1 (`) is generated by the differences of Q-rational cusps
on X1 (`).
This conjecture parallels a result of Mazur with respect to the curve X0 (N ), originally
a conjecture of Ogg, proved in Mazur’s celebrated work on the Eisenstein Ideal [16].
Theorem. (Mazur [16]) (A conjecture of Ogg.) For ` prime, the torsion subgroup of the
Mordell-Weil group of the Jacobian J0 (`) of the modular curve X0 (`) is a cyclic group
generated by the difference of cusps (0) − (∞).
In [3], the authors have verified (8) to be true for all primes ` ≤ 157 with five
exceptional cases. Their methods involve providing a conjectural order T (`) for the size
of J1 (`)(Q)tors , and verifying for ` ≤ 157 in the non-exceptional cases that the predicted
order T (`) matches the order given in (8). If we let
Y
Ord` = ` −L(−1; χ) (9)
χ6=1

be the conjectured order in (8), we point out by (6)

`−5
` 2 Ord` = |C`+ |, (10)

suggesting a relation between the modular units r`,j (τ ) and the subgroup of
Q-rational torsion in J1 (`).
The theory of the modular units reflects much of the theory developed in the cyclo-
tomic fields, although the ways in which this relation extends beyond analogy are still
being discovered. With respect to class groups, within the cyclotomic theory it is well
known that the class number of Q(ζ` ) decomposes into the product h = h+ h− , where
h+ is the class number of the maximal real subfield H = Q(ζ` )+ , and equals the index
[E + : C + ], where E + is the full group of units in H, and C + the group of cyclotomic
units in H. For prime power `, Kummer gave an analytic formula for the relative class
number
Y 1
h− = 2` − B1,χ . (11)
χodd
2

Here B1,χ is the first generalized Bernoulli number, and the product is taken over all
odd characters χ mod `.

3
 The analogy between the class number formula (6) and the relative class number
formula (11) may be explained by first applying the identity
Bk,χ
L(χ, 1 − k) = − (12)
k
between Dirichlet L-functions associated to a character χ mod N and the generalized
Bernoulli numbers. By (12), we rewrite the class number formula (11) given by Kummer
in terms of L functions, and compare the class number formula (6)
Y 1 `−3
Y
h− = 2` L(χ, 0) |C`+ | = ` 2 −L(−1; χ) (13)
χodd
2 χ6=1 even

Further analogies between the modular unit groups U`C and the cyclotomic unit groups
may be found in [4], including the roles of the modular units r`,j as generators of modular
function fields and also their specializations generating cyclotomic unit groups and class
fields.

2. Rogers-Ramanujan

The modular units r`,j , 1 ≤ j ≤ (` − 3)/2 may be viewed as higher level analogues to
a widely studied function, the Rogers-Ramanujan continued fraction, defined by
q 1/5
r(τ ) = (14)
q
1 +
q2
1 +
q3
1 +
1 + .
..

convergent for τ in the upper half complex plane H. The Rogers-Ramanujan function
was discovered first by Rogers in 1894 [17], and later independently by Ramanujan in
1913, and Schur in 1917 [19]. Although we present the Rogers-Ramanujan function here
as an example of a modular unit, r(τ ) has more notably been an object of study due to a
wealth of associated analytic properties. These include various related q-series identities,
consequences within partition theory, and far reaching combinatorial interpretations (see
[2], for example). Many of the fundamental properties associated to r(τ ) rely upon the
fact that one may regard r(τ ) as arising from the q-recurrence

R(z) = R(zq) + zqR(zq 2 ). (15)

That is, we may write

r(τ ) = q 1/5 R(q)/R(1). (16)

4
The q-recurrence (15) has a known analytic solution [18] given by
X 2
R(z) = z n q n (q; q)−1
n . (17)
n≥0

Here we use the q−Pochhammer symbol defined by


 1 k =0

 (1 − a)(1 − aq) · · · (1 − aq k−1 ) k = 1, 2, . . .
(a; q)k = −1

 [(1 − aq −1 )(1 − aq −2 ) · · · (1 − aq −k )] k = −1, −2, . . .

(1 − a)(1 − aq)(1 − aq 2 )(1 − aq 3 ) · · · k = ∞.

A celebrated result associated to r(τ ) are the Rogers-Ramanujan identities,

Y
R(1)−1 = (1 − q 5n−1 )(1 − q 5n−4 ) (18)
n≥1
Y
−1
R(q) = (1 − q 5n−2 )(1 − q 5n−3 ), (19)
n≥1

which give an infinite product representation for the series (17) evaluated at z = 1 and
z = q. Various proofs have emerged in the literature for the identities (18) and (19),
originally due to Rogers and (independently) Ramanujan, whose proofs rely upon the
use of Theta functions [18]. The identities may also be interpreted combinatorially (see
for example [1]) in terms of number partitions. For example (18) may be read as saying
“the number of ways to partition a number into parts congruent to 1 and 4 mod 5 is
equal the number of partitions into parts of minimal difference 2.”
By (16), (17), (18) and (19), one obtains a q-product expansion for r(τ ). With this,
one may show that r(τ ) is in fact a modular function on Γ(5), and also a modular unit.
In what follows we consider the fields F` , ` ≥ 5, and provide more general proofs of
these facts.

3. The modular unit groups U`C

To define higher order modular unit groups analogous to U5C = hr(τ )i generated by the
Rogers-Ramanujan continued fraction r(τ ), we seek other appropriate modular functions
on the curves X(N ). Due to the fact that r(τ ) has a continued fraction expansion
and may be viewed as originating from a certain q-recurrence, one might hope that if
analogous functions exist, that they exhibit similar traits. We indeed form such families
for curves X(N ) to generate the groups. Due to the fact that r(τ ) has a continued
fraction expansion and may be viewed as originating from a certain q-recurrence, one
might hope that if analogous functions exist, that they exhibit similar traits. We indeed
form such families for curves X(N ) of higher genus g > 0 in what follows, yet will

5
see that these functions do not possess a continued fraction expansion but rather an
expression that may be viewed as a generalization of a continued fraction expansion. To
describe this, we begin with the observation of Sylvester that a continued fraction may
be expressed as the limiting value of ratios of nth order determinants. That is,
¯ a0 b1 0 0 · · · ¯ ¯ 1 0 0 0 · · · ¯−1
¯ −1 a1 b2 0 · · · ¯ ¯ 0 a1 b2 0 · · · ¯
b1 ¯ 0 −1 a b · · · ¯ ¯ 0 −1 a b · · · ¯
a0 + = ¯¯ 0 0 −12 a33 · · · ¯¯ ¯¯ 0 0 −12 a33 · · · ¯¯
b2 ¯ ... ... ... ... ¯ ¯ ... ... ... ... ¯
a1 +
b3
a2 +
a3 + .
.
.

where the successive ratios of order n determinants are the partial convergents of the
continued fraction. One finds that the Rogers-Ramanujan continued fraction may be
expressed as
¯ ¯¯ ¯−1
¯ 1 0 0 0 ···
¯¯ 1 q 0 0 ···
¯
¯
1/5 ¯
0 1 q2 0 ···
¯¯ −1 1 q2 0 ···
¯
r(τ ) = q ¯ 0 −1 1 q3 ··· ¯¯ 0 −1 1 q3 ··· ¯ (20)
0 0 −1 1 ··· ¯¯ 0 0 −1 1 ··· ¯
¯ .
.
.
.
.
.
.
. ¯¯ .
.
.
.
.
.
.
. ¯
. . . . . . . . .

We generalize this definition, and let A(n) be the order n determinant with entries ai,j ,
1 ≤ i, j ≤ n, with B (n) defined similarly. Provided the limit exists, we define the ratio
of two infinite determinants by
¯ a1,1 a1,2 a1,3 a1,4 · · · ¯¯ b1,1 b1,2 b1,3 b1,4 · · · ¯−1
¯ a2,1 a2,2 a2,3 a2,4 · · · ¯¯ b2,1 b2,2 b2,3 b2,4 · · · ¯
¯ a3,1 a3,2 a3,3 a3,4 · · · ¯¯ b3,1 b3,2 b3,3 b3,4 · · · ¯
(n)
lim A /B := (n) ¯ a4,1 a4,2 a4,3 a4,4 · · · ¯¯ b4,1 b4,2 b4,3 b4,4 · · · ¯ (21)
n→∞ ¯ . ¯¯ . ¯
¯ .. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
¯ ¯ .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
¯
.

With hopes of constructing analogous modular functions to (20) of higher level, we form
the infinite determinant Sk (z) of width k + 1
¯ sk,0 (z) sk,1 (z) sk,2 (z) ¯
¯ −1 sk,0 (zq) sk,1 (zq) sk,2· ·(zq) · sk,k−1 (z) 0 0 0 ···
¯
¯ 0 ··· sk,k−1 (zq) 0 0 ···
¯
Sk (z) := ¯ −1 sk,0 (zq 2
) sk,1 (zq 2
) sk,2 (zq 2
) · · · sk,k−1 (zq 2
) 0 · · ·
¯ (22)
¯ . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. ¯
. . . . . . . . .

One may deduce from (22) the higher order q-recurrences satisfied by the functions
Sk (z)
k
X
sk,m−1 (z)Sk (zq m ) = 0 (23)
m=0

where we let sk,−1 (z) = −1. We must define the functions sk,j (z) appropriately so that
(23) yields an analytic solution Sk (z).

6
We let
sk,2n (z) :=(−1)n z nk q δ(k,n) (q; q)−2
n
b k+1
2 c
X
−n−1
(24)
z j q j(n+1) (q j+1 ; q)n (q b 2 c−(j+n) ; q)n
k+1
×
j=0

sk,2n−1 (z) :=(−1)n+1 z nk−b 2 c q δ (k,n) (q; q)−2

k 0 n −1
n−1 (1 − q )
bX
2c
k
−n
(25)
z j q jn (q j+1 ; q)n (q b 2 c−(j+n)+1 ; q)n−1
k
×
j=0

for n ≥ 0 in (24), and n ≥ 1 in (25), where

¹ º
n2 + n k+1
δ(k, n) = (2k + 1) −n
2 2
2−n
¹ º
0 n k + 1 1
δ (k, n) = (2k + 1) +n ,
2 2

and

bαc = max{n ≤ α}
n∈Z
dαe = min{n ≥ α}.
n∈Z

As given in (24) and (25), the functions sk,m (z) first appear in the work of Selberg
[20], and in the case k = 2, the q-recurrence (23) reduces to (15), with S2 (z) = R(z).
With this choice of sk,j , an analytic solution to the q-recurrence (23) exists, and is given
in [20] by
∞
X n2 +n (xq; q)n Y
Sk (z) = (−1)n xkn q (2k+1) 2
−kn
(1 − xk q (2n+1)k ) (1 − zq n )−1 . (26)
(q; q)n
n=0 n≥1

Selberg uses these functions to give certain identities analogous to the Rogers-Ramanujan
identities (18) and (19), and also to give various q-continued fraction identities. In con-
trast to their use in [20], we use the functions sk,j (z) and Sk (z) to define groups of
modular units UNC . To define the modular units r`,j , we first recall the Galois action on
the modular function fields FN .
1
We note that the exponent given in [20] corresponding to δ 0(k, n) mistakenly reads
2 ¥ ¦
(2k + 1) n 2+n + n k+1
2 .

7
 The natural action of the group Γ(1) ⊂ M2 (Z) on the fields FN given by
γ · f (τ ) = f (γτ ), (27)
where f = f (τ ) ∈ FN , may be extended to the group GL2 (Z/N Z) as follows. Given
³ ´
1 0
d ∈ (Z/N Z)∗ , let γd = 0 d act on Q(ζN ) by

γd · ζN = ζNd .
∞
X
If f ∈ FN has q-series expansion given by f (τ ) = an q n/N , the action of γd extends
n=m
to FN by
∞
X
γd · f (τ ) = (γd · an )q n/N . (28)
n=m

The matrices γd , d ∈ (Z/N Z)∗ , together with SL2 (Z/N Z), generate GL2 (Z/N Z), and
the group actions given by (27) and (28) define a Galois action on the modular function
fields, described by the following exact sequence
1 −→ GN · {±1} −→ G −→ Gal(FN /F1 ) −→ 1 (29)
where
Y
G = GL2 (Zp ) · G+
∞ (30)
p

GN = {(x) ∈ G/G+
∞ | xp ≡ 1 mod N · M2 (Zp )}. (31)

The product defining G is taken over primes p, and Zp denotes the ring of integers in
the completion Qp of the field Q at p. From (29), one finds the isomorphism
π
Gal(FN /F1 ) ∼
= GL2(Z/N Z)/{±1}. (32)

We first define using (26) the functions r`,1 and r`,2 .

Definition. For ` = 2k + 1, let
−k(k−1) Sk (1)
r`,1 (τ ) = q 2` (33)
Sk (q)

−(k+1)(k−2) Sk (1) − q k−1 Sk (q 2 )

r`,2 (τ ) = q 2` . (34)
Sk (q)

8
 For m ∈ (Z/N Z)∗ , we let
¡m 0
¢ ¡ ¢
σm := 0 1 ∈ π Gal(FN /F1 ) (35)

and for ` = 2k + 1, let

(3`−4)(`−3) η(τ )
Ψ`,q := −q 24` Sk (q).
η(`τ )
We define for 1 ≤ j ≤ (` − 3)/2 the functions
¡ ¢
r`,j (τ ) := σk+1−j Ψ`,q · Ψ−1
`,q (36)

where the Dedekind η-function η(τ ) = ∆1/24 (τ ) is the 24th root of the Discriminant
function, and is given by
Y
η(τ ) = q 1/24 (1 − q n ). (37)
n≥1

4. A class number formula

To prove the class number formula given in (4) for the group C`+ , we will use the theory
of the Siegel functions.

4.1 Siegel functions.

The Klein forms ta (τ ), defined for a vector a = (a1 , a2 ) ∈ R2 , and τ ∈ H, are given
by

ta (τ ) = e−ηa (τ )a·(τ,1)/2 σa (τ ), (38)

where σa and ηa are the classical Weierstrass functions. Using known properties
of the Weierstrass σa and ηa functions, one can verify for a lattice L that the
Klein forms satisfy the following properties

ta (λL) = λta (L) (39)

ta (γL) = taγ (L) (40)
ta+b (L) = ²(a, b)ta (L). (41)

In (39) λ ∈ C∗ , in (40) γ ∈ Γ(1), and in (41) b = (b1 , b2 ) ∈ Z2 , and the constant ²(a, b)
is given by

²(a, b) = (−1)b1 b2 +b1 +b2 e((b2 a1 − b1 a2 )/2). (42)

9
The Klein forms are used to define the Siegel functions, given by

ga (τ ) = ta (τ )∆(τ )1/12 . (43)

A major result of Kubert and Lang in their development of the theory of the modular
units is the following explicit characterization of the modular units of prime power level
`.

Theorem K. (Kubert, Lang) Let ` = pn , where p is prime, p 6= 2, 3, n ∈ N. Then the

modular units of level ` (modulo constants) consist of products
Y
gam(a) (44)
a

where a = ( a`1 , a`2 ) ∈ 1` Z2 , a ∈

/ Z2 , and the exponents m(a) ∈ Z satisfy the quadratic
relations
X X X
m(a)a21 ≡ m(a)a22 ≡ m(a)a1 a2 ≡ 0 mod `
a a a

Using the product expansion for the classical ∆ and σ functions, one has the following
product formula for the Siegel functions:
³ a1 ¡
´Y
∞³ ´³ ´
1 a
B ( 1) a2 ¢ a1 ¡
a ¢ a1 ¡
a ¢
ga (τ ) = −q 2 2 ` e(a2 (a1 −1)/2) 1−q e `
` 1−q n+ ` e `2 1−q n− ` e − `2
n=1
(45)

where B2 (z) is the second Bernoulli polynomial defined by

1
B2 (z) = z 2 − z + . (46)
6
One may verify by the Galois action described in Section 1.1, the product formula (45),
and the action (40), that the Galois group Gal(F` /F1 ) acts transitively on the Siegel
functions by multiplication on the indices. That is, for β ∈ Gal(F` /F1 ),

β · ga = ga·β . (47)

Proposition 1. For ` = 2k + 1 ≥ 5, the functions r`,j (τ ), 1 ≤ j ≤ (` − 3)/2 are modular

units of level `.

Proof of Proposition 1.

10
To show the functions r`,j , 1 ≤ j ≤ (`−3)/2, as defined in (33), (34) and (36) are modular
units of level `, using the definition of Sk (z) (26), we apply the product identity
X ³1 ³ ²
´2 ³ ´ ´
² ²0
e 2 n+ 2 τ + n+ 2 2 =
n∈Z
¡ ²²0 ¢ 2 Y ¡ ²0 ¢ 1+² ¡ −²0 ¢ 1−²
e 4 q ² /8 (1 − q n )(1 + e 2 q n− 2 )(1 + e 2 q n− 2 ), (48)
n≥1

which may derived from Jacobi’s triple product formula

∞
X ∞
Y
n2 2n
q z = (1 − q 2n )(1 + q 2n−1 z 2 )(1 + q 2n−1 z −2 ) (49)
n=−∞ n=1

and find
Y (1 − q `n−k )(1 − q `n−(k+1) )(1 − q `n )
Sk (1) = (50)
n≥1
(1 − q n )
Y (1 − q `n−1 )(1 − q `n−(`−1) )(1 − q `n )
Sk (q) = (51)
n≥1
(1 − q n )
Y (1 − q `n−(k−1) )(1 − q `n−(k+2) )(1 − q `n )
Sk (1) − q k−1 Sk (q 2 ) = (52)
n≥1
(1 − q n )
so that
Y (1 − q `n−k )(1 − q `n−(k+1) )
r`,1 = q −k(k−1)/2` (53)
n≥1
(1 − q `n−1 )(1 − q `n−(`−1) )
Y (1 − q `n−(k−1) )(1 − q `n−(k+2) )
r`,2 = q −(k+1)(k−2)/2` . (54)
n≥1
(1 − q `n−1 )(1 − q `n−(`−1) )

From (53), (54) and (45) we find the following expression for the modular units r`,1 (τ ), r`,2 (τ ):
`−1
Y
r`,1 (τ ) = g(k/`,s/`) /g(1/`,s/`) (55)
s=0
`−1
Y
r`,2 (τ ) = g(k−1/`,s/`) /g(1/`,s/`) . (56)
s=0

By (55), (56), (36) and (47), we see by Theorem K. that the r`,j , 1 ≤ j ≤ (` − 3)/2 are
modular units of level `.
We define the subset
A` = {β | β ∈ π`−1 (∞)} (57)

11
where for N ∈ N, πN is the canonical projection

πN : X(N ) −→ X0 (N ) (58)

where

X0 (N ) ∼
= Γ0 (N )\H∗ (59)
¡ ¢ ¡ ¢
Γ0 (N ) = {γ = ac db ∈ Γ(1) | γ ≡ ∗0 ∗∗ . mod N } (60)

We use A` to define the following modular unit group

U`+ := {f ∈ U` | supp(div(f )) ⊆ A` }. (61)

We will use the following important observation.

Proposition 2. For ` prime, ` ≥ 5, the subgroup U`+ defined in (61) of the modular unit
group generated by those units with divisors supported at the cusps β ∈ π`−1 (∞) is equal
to the group U`C defined in (2) generated by the modular units r`,j , 1 ≤ j ≤ (` − 3)/2.
That is,

U`+ = U`C . (62)

We will use the following propositions.

Proposition 3. For prime ` ≥ 5,
`−1
Rank U`C = |A` | − 1 = − 1. (63)
2
Hence,

Rank U`C = Rank U`+ (64)

C
and this rank is the same as that of the cyclotomic unit group EQ(ζ`)
+.

Proposition 4. For prime ` ≥ 5, the groups U`C and U`+ are cotorsion free in U` .
Proposition 5. For prime ` ≥ 5,

U`C ⊆ U`+ . (65)

Proof of Proposition 2.
Proposition 2 follows from Propositions 3, 4, and 5.

12
Definition. For fixed ` = 2k + 1 ∈ N, for any m, 1 ≤ m ≤ k, let
`−1
Y
g(m) = g(m/`,s/`) . (66)
s=0

We associate to each h ∈ F` the order vector

V (h) = (. . . ordβ h . . . ) (67)

where β runs over all cusps of X(`), and the order is taken to be the smallest power of
£ ¤
q 1/` appearing in the Fourier expansion of h about the cusp β. For the cusp ab ∼ β,
the element β −1 translates the cusp to the standard cusp at infinity, so that

ordβ−1 h = ord∞ hβ (68)

and so we may write

V (h) = (. . . ord∞ hβ . . . ) (69)

where β runs over the elements in the Cartan group. We note the following important
observation.

Proposition 6. For cusps β, β 0 not in A` , and any integers m, n,

1 ≤ m, n ≤ (` − 1)/2,

ordβ g(m) = ordβ0 g(n) (70)

Proof of Proposition 6.
For a cusp not in A` , we see that as s ranges over a set of representatives for Z/`Z, the
product (m, s) · β also ranges over a set of representatives. If we suppose (m, s1 ) · β ≡
£ ¤
(m, s2 ) · β mod ` for s1 and s2 of different classes mod `, and β ∼ ab , then b ≡ 0
mod `, a contradiction.

Proof of Proposition 5.
This follows from Proposition 6.

4.2 A Cartan subgroup.

For an integer k, for any prime p, let op,k = op Q

be the unramified extension of Zp of
degree k. For any positive integer N define oN = p|N op , and o(N ) = oN /N oN . For a

13
given N , the Cartan group Ck (N ) of degree k is defined to be the multiplicative group
in oN . That is,

Ck (N ) = o(N )∗ . (71)

The Galois group Gal(F` /F1 ) may be decomposed

Gal(F` /F1 ) ∼
= C2 (`)G∞ (`) (72)

in terms of the degree two Cartan group C2 (`) and the isotropy subgroup G∞ (`) of the
vector (1, 0)t . We define the subgroup C2 (`)+ = C(`)+ of the degree two Cartan group
C2 (`) by
©¡ m ∗ ¢ ¯ ª
C(`)+ := 0 ∗
¯ m ∈ (Z/`Z)∗ . (73)

+
In what follows, we let C(`) = C(`)+ /{±1} = C(`)+ /{±1}, and consider the group
ring
+
R = Z[C(`) ]. (74)

To prove Proposition 3, we will need the following.

Theorem 2. For ` prime ≥ 5, the functions g(m) have maximal rank, where 1 ≤ m ≤
(` − 1)/2. That is, the divisors of the g(m) have rank |A` |.
We will in fact show this is equivalent to
Theorem 3. The forms g(m) have maximal rank if and only if for each character χ of
+
C(`) we have
X
χ(β)ord∞ g(β) 6= 0. (75)
β

Proof of Theorems 2 and 3.

We form the (` − 1)/2 row array with the order vectors V (g(m))

[ordα g(m)] = [ord∞ g(m)β ]

where β runs over the elements in the full Cartan group C(`)/{±1}. Using (70), we
+
form the order (` − 1)/2 minor with columns determined by β ∈ C(`), and denote this
minor by

[ord∞ g(m)β ]+ . (76)

Theorem 2 will follow from

14
Theorem 4.

det[ord∞ g(m)β ]+ 6= 0. (77)

To prove Theorem 4, we will apply the Frobenius determinant relation, which pro-
vides a closed form in terms of group characters for the determinant of matrix whose
entries are dependent on an Abelian group G and a complex valued function f on G.

Theorem 5. (Frobenius determinant relation.) Let G be a finite Abelian group and Ĝ

the group of characters on G. For any function f : G −→ C,
YX
det f (α−1 β) = χ(α)f (α−1 ) (78)
α,β∈G
χ∈Ĝ α∈G

Proof of Theorem 5.
See [15] Chapter 21, §2.

Using (66) we apply the Frobenius determinant relation (78) to find

YX
det[ord∞ g(m)β ]+ = χ(β)ord∞ g(β) (79)
χ β

+
as χ runs over the character group of C(`), and β over the group. This proves Theorem
3. A short computation using the product expansion for the Siegel functions (45) shows
X X 1 `
ord∞ g(m) = ord∞ g(m,s) = B2 (hm/`i) = B2 (hm/`i). (80)
2 2
s∈Z/`Z s ∈ Z/`Z

So we have
X ` X ` X
χ(β)ord∞ g(β) = χ(β)B2 (hβ/`i) = χ(β)B2 (hβ/`i)
2 4
β∈C(`) + +
β∈C(`) β∈C(`)+

which is precisely a multiple of a generalized Bernoulli number of Leopoldt. The char-

+
acters on C(`) extend to even characters on C(`)+ , those for which χ(−1) = 1,
by defining χ(β) = χ(−β). We use the known fact [5] that when Bn and χ have the
same parity, Bn,χ 6= 0. This establishes Theorem 4.

Proof of Proposition 3.
By (55), (56), (47) and (36) we have

r`,k+1−m = g(m)/g(1) (81)

15
where 2 ≤ m ≤ k. For any fixed n, the quotient g(m)/g(n) is a modular unit for all
m 6= n. The modular units g(m)/g(1) have maximal possible rank |A` | − 1 because the
functions g(m) have maximal possible rank |A` | by Theorem 2. This gives Proposition 3.

Proof of Proposition 4.
The result follows easily for the group U`+ . For suppose for some h ∈ U` ,
hk ∈ U`+ for some k ∈ Z+ . Then ordβ hk = kordβ h, so that ordβ h = 0 for all
β∈/ A` . Thus h ∈ U`+ . For the group U`C , we again suppose for some h ∈ U` ,
hk ∈ U`C . It is enough to establish the result for prime k, by factoring. We may write
Y
hk = g(m)n(m) . (82)
m

To proceed, we will use a result found in [13]. Although in [13] this result is not stated
as a Lemma, we do so here.
Lemma 1. ([13] p.91) Let k be a prime number. If
Y
hk = gan(a) (83)

and `a = `b = 0, then k divides n(a) − n(b).

For each g(m/`,s/`) in the product for hk , we pair the element g(0,s/`) , and write their
respective exponents n(m, s) and n(0, s). Here n(0, s) = 0 as g(0,s/`) does not appear in
the product, and we will write n(m, s) = n(m). Lemma 1 shows that for each g(m/`,s/`)
appearing in the product for hk , the exponent k divides n(m, s) = n(m), so that h has
an expression
Y 0
h= g(m)n (m) . (84)
m
P P
The fact that m n(m) = 0 shows that m n0 (m) = 0, and since h ∈ U` , we must have
h ∈ U`C . Thus, we have the desired characterization of the modular units U`C .

4.3 A Stickelberger element.

An appropriate Stickelberger element associated to the Cartan group of degree 2 is

used by Kubert and Lang in proving the analytic formula in Theorem for the order of
the cuspidal divisor class group. We define the Stickelberger element associated to the
Cartan subgroup C(`)+ by
X `
θ+ = B2 (ha/`i)ςa −1 (85)
+
2
ςa ∈C(`)

16
 ¡a ∗ ¢
where ςa = 0∗ , a ∈ (Z/`Z)∗ . We define the augmentation ideal R0 to be those elements
in R of degree 0, and for any ideal I ⊂ R, we write I0 = I ∩ R0 to denote the elements
in I of degree 0. We realize the isomorphism between the group ring, and the divisor
group D+ , and also the isomorphism R0 ∼ = D0+ . We also find
Theorem 6. Let ` ≥ 5 be prime. Then

F+ ∼
= R0 `θ+ (86)

Proof of Theorem 6.
We use the characterization given in Proposition 2 of the unit group U`+ as being gen-
erated by the r`,m (τ ). We let h ∈ U`+ and express
Y
h= g(m)n(m) (87)
m

and find
XX `
div(h) = `n(m) B2 (hma/`i)ςa−1
ςa ∈G m
2
XX ` −1
= `n(m) B2 (ha/`i)ςam −1

ςa ∈G m
2
X X `
= n(m)ςm · ` B2 (ha/`i)ςa−1
m ς ∈G
2
a
+
= π · `θ
P P
where π = m n(m)ςm . We may regard π ∈ R, and due to the fact that m n(m) = 0
for h ∈ U`C , we have π ∈ R0 . Conversely, any such π ∈ R0 gives an element in F + by
multiplication with `θ+ , which we may associate with h as above.

Proof of Theorem 1.
The argument provided is adapted from an argument given in [13] to determine the
index [R0 : I0 θ], where I ⊂ R is the ideal of elements generated by elements σc − c2 with
(c, `) = 1. We first make the embedding

0 −→ R0 /R0 `θ+ −→ R/R`θ+ . (88)

We note that R`θ+ ⊂ R due to the fact that B2 (x) is a degree 2 polynomial. Then
image of the embedding is R0 + R`θ+ = Rn , where Rn ⊂ R is the ideal of elements of
degree ≡ 0 mod n, and n = degR`θ+ . Here, the degree of an ideal J ⊂ R is defined to

17
be the degree of a positive generator for the degrees deg(α), α ∈ J. The degree of R is
1, so n = `degθ+ . We have at this point

[R0 : R0 `θ+ ] = [Rn : R`θ+ ] (89)

and note the inclusion

R`θ+ ⊂ Rn ⊂ R. (90)

The index [R : Rn ] equals n, and to compute the larger index, we may view `θ+ as acting
on R by multiplication, so that the index [R : R`θ+ ] equals the absolute value of the
+
determinant. The vector space C[C(`) ] is a direct sum of eigenspaces corresponding to
+
the characters of C(`), so that
Y
[R : R`θ+ ] = χ(`θ+ ). (91)
χ

We note that the trivial character gives the degree n, and Theorem 1 follows.

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18
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