Modular forms: a classical approach

The theory of modular forms is a fundamental tool used in many areas of mathematics and physics. It is also a very concrete and "fun" subject in itself and abounds with an amazing number of surprising identities. This comprehensive textbook, which includes numerous exercises, aims to give a complete picture of the classical aspects of the subject, with an emphasis on explicit formulas. After a number of motivating examples such as elliptic functions and theta functions, the modular group, its subgroups, and general aspects of holomorphic and nonholomorphic modular forms are explained, with an emphasis on explicit examples. The heart of the book is the classical theory developed by Hecke and continued up to the Atkin-Lehner-Li theory of newforms and including the theory of Eisenstein series, Rankin-Selberg theory, and a more general theory of theta series including the Weil representation. The final chapter explores in some detail more general types of modular forms such as half-integral weight, Hilbert, Jacobi, Maass, and Siegel modular forms. This book is essentially self-contained, the necessary tools being given in a separate chapter. This book gives a beautiful introduction to the theory of modular forms, with a delicate balance of analytic and arithmetic perspectives. The target readership is graduate students in number theory, though it will also be accessible to advanced undergraduates and will, no doubt, serve as a valuable reference for researchers for years to come. -Jennifer Balakrishnan, Boston University This marvelous book is a gift to the mathematical community and more specifically to anyone wanting to learn modular forms. The authors take a classical view of the material offering extremely helpful explanations in a generous conversational manner and covering such an impressive range of this beautiful, deep, and important subject. -Barry Mazur, Harvard University Modular forms are central to many different fields of mathematics and mathematical physics. Having a detailed and complete treatment of all aspects of the theory by two world experts is a very welcome addition to the literature. -Peter Sarnak, Princeton University.