On generalized modular forms and their applications

Abstract

We study the Fourier coefficients of generalized modular forms $f(\tau)$ of integral weight $k$ on subgroups $\Gamma$ of finite index in the modular group. We establish two Theorems asserting that $f(\tau)$ is constant if $k = 0$, $f(\tau)$ has empty divisor, and the Fourier coefficients have certain rationality properties. (The result is false if the rationality assumptions are dropped.) These results are applied to the case that $f(\tau)$ has a cuspidal divisor, $k$ is arbitrary, and $\Gamma = \Gamma_{0}(N)$, where we show that $f(\tau)$ is modular, indeed an eta-quotient, under natural rationality assumptions on the Fourier coefficients. We also explain how these results apply to the theory of orbifold vertex operator algebras.