In this paper we construct indefinite theta series for lattices of arbitrary signature $(p,q)$ as ‘incomplete’ theta integrals, that is, by integrating the theta forms constructed by the second author with J. Millson over certain singular $q$-chains in the associated symmetric space $D$. These chains typically do not descend to homology classes in arithmetic quotients of $D$, and consequently the theta integrals do not give rise to holomorphic modular forms, but rather to the non-holomorphic completions of certain mock modular forms. In this way we provide a general geometric framework for the indefinite theta series constructed by Zwegers and more recently by Alexandrov, Banerjee, Manschot, and Pioline, Nazaroglu, and Raum. In particular, the coefficients of the mock modular forms are identified with intersection numbers.

In a recent important paper, Hoffstein and Hulse [Multiple Dirichlet series and shifted convolutions, arXiv:1110.4868v2] generalized the notion of Rankin–Selberg convolution $L$-functions by defining shifted convolution$L$-functions. We investigate symmetrized versions of their functions, and we prove that the generating functions of certain special values are linear combinations of weakly holomorphic quasimodular forms and “mixed mock modular” forms.

For a given cusp form $\phi $ of even integral weight satisfying certain hypotheses, Waldspurger’s theorem relates the critical value of the $\mathrm{L} $-function of the $n\mathrm{th} $ quadratic twist of $\phi $ to the $n\mathrm{th} $ coefficient of a certain modular form of half-integral weight. Waldspurger’s recipes for these modular forms of half-integral weight are far from being explicit. In particular, they are expressed in the language of automorphic representations and Hecke characters. We translate these recipes into congruence conditions involving easily computable values of Dirichlet characters. We illustrate the practicality of our ‘simplified Waldspurger’ by giving several examples.

Let k be a positive integer such that k≡3 mod 4, and let N be a positive square-free integer. In this paper, we compute a basis for the two-dimensional subspace Sk/2(Γ0(4N),F) of half-integral weight modular forms associated, via the Shimura correspondence, to a newform F∈Sk−1(Γ0(N)), which satisfies . This is accomplished by using a result of Waldspurger, which allows one to produce a basis for the forms that correspond to a given F via local considerations, once a form in the Kohnen space has been determined.

Recent works have used the theory of modular forms to establish linear congruences for the partition function and for traces of singular moduli. We show that this type of phenomenon is completely general, by finding similar congruences for the coefficients of any weakly holomorphic modular form on any congruence subgroup $\Gamma_0 (N)$. In particular, we give congruences for a wide class of partition functions and for traces of CM values of arbitrary modular functions on certain congruence subgroups of prime level.

We investigate divisibility properties of the traces and Hecke traces of singular moduli. In particular we prove that, if p is prime, these traces satisfy many congruences modulo powers of p which are described in terms of the factorization of p in imaginary quadratic fields. We also study generalizations of Lehner's classical congruences $j(z)| U_p\equiv 744 \pmod p$ (where $p\leq 11$ and j(z) is the usual modular invariant), and we investigate connections between class polynomials and supersingular polynomials in characteristic p.