Poincaré Theta Series and Singular Sets of Schottky Groups

Abstract

In the theory of automorphic functions for a properly discontinuous group G of linear transformations, the Poincaré theta series plays an essential role, since the convergence problem of the series occupies an important part of the theory. This problem was treated by many mathematicians such as Poincaré, Burnside [2], Fricke [4], Myrberg [6], [7] and others. Poincaré proved that the (-2m)-dimensional Poincaré theta series always converges if m is a positive integer greater than 2, and Burnside treated the problem and conjectured that ( -2)-dimensional Poincaré theta series always converges if G is a Schottky group. This conjecture was solved negatively by Myrberg. As is shown later (Theorem A), the convergence of Poincaré theta series gives an information on a metrical property of the singular set of the group.