Paper detail

Intersection theory on Shimura surfaces II

This is the third of a series of papers relating intersections of special cycles on the integral model of a Shimura surface to Fourier coefficients of Hilbert modular forms. More precisely, we embed the Shimura curve over Q associated to a rational quaternion algebra into the Shimura surface associated to the base change of the quaternion algebra to a real quadratic field. After extending the associated moduli problems over Z we obtain an arithmetic threefold with a embedded arithmetic surface, which we view as a cycle of codimension one. We then construct a family, indexed by totally positive algebraic integers in the real quadratic field, of codimension two cycles (complex multiplication points) on the arithmetic threefold. The intersection multiplicities of the codimension two cycles with the fixed codimension one cycle are shown to agree with the Fourier coefficients of a (very particular) Hilbert modular form of weight 3/2. The results are higher dimensional variants of results of Kudla-Rapoport-Yang, which relate intersection multiplicities of special cycles on the integral model of a Shimura curve to Fourier coefficients of a modular form in two variables.