The quaternionic Maass Spezialschar on split $\mathrm{SO}(8)$

Abstract

The classical Maass Spezialschar is a Hecke-stable subspace of the space of holomorphic Siegel modular forms of genus two and level one cut out by certain linear relations among Fourier coefficients. We define an analogous quaternionic Maass Spezialschar, which consists of the quaternionic modular forms of level one on split $\mathrm{SO}(8)$ whose Fourier coefficients satisfy certain linear relations. We characterize this space in terms of a theta lift from the space of holomorphic Siegel modular forms on $\mathrm{Sp}(4)$, and in terms of periods. We also give a conjecture for the Dirichlet series of the standard $L$-function of quaternionic modular eigenforms on $\mathrm{SO}(8)$ and verify our conjecture on the quaternionic Maass Spezialschar.

Revised version: typos corrected, exposition improved, and Remarks 4.2.5 and 8.1.7 added. Accepted for publication in Journal of the London Mathematical Society