The Generalized Eta Transformation Formulas as the Hecke Modular Relation

Abstract

The transformation formula under the action of a general linear fractional transformation for a generalized Dedekind eta function has been the subject of intensive study since the works of Rademacher, Dieter, Meyer, and Schoenberg et al. However, the (Hecke) modular relation structure was not recognized until the work of Goldstein-de la Torre, where the modular relations mean equivalent assertions to the functional equation for the relevant zeta functions. The Hecke modular relation is a special case of this, with a single gamma factor and the corresponding modular form (or in the form of Lambert series). This has been the strongest motivation for research in the theory of modular forms since Hecke’s work in the 1930s. Our main aim is to restore the fundamental work of Rademacher (1932) by locating the functional equation hidden in the argument and to reveal the Hecke correspondence in all subsequent works (which depend on the method of Rademacher) as well as in the work of Rademacher. By our elucidation many of the subsequent works will be made clear and put in their proper positions.