An Elementary Proof of the Transformation Formula for the Dedekind Eta Function

Abstract

The Dedekind eta function $\eta(\tau)$ is defined by \[\eta(\tau)=e^{\pi i\tau/12}\prod_{n=1}^{\infty}\left(1-e^{2\pi i n\tau}\right),\quad\text{when}\;\text{Im}\,\tau>0.\] It plays an important role in number theory, especially in the theory of modular forms. Its 24$^{\text{th}}$ power, $\eta(\tau)^{24}$, is a modular form of weight 12 for the modular group $\text{PSL}\,(2,\mathbb{Z})$. Up to a constant, $\eta(\tau)^{24}$ is equal to the modular discriminant $\Delta(\tau)$. In this note, we give an elementary proof of the transformation formula for the Dedekind eta function under the action of the modular group $\text{PSL}\,(2,\mathbb{Z})$. We start by giving a proof of the transformation formula \[\eta\left(-\frac{1}{\tau}\right)=(-i\tau)^{1/2}\eta(\tau)\]using the Jacobi triple product identity and the Poisson summation formula. Both of these formulas have elementary proofs. After we establish some identities for the Dedekind sum, the transformation formula for $\eta(\tau)$ under the transformation \[\tau\mapsto \frac{a\tau+b}{c\tau+d}\]induced by a general element of the modular group $\text{PSL}\,(2,\mathbb{Z})$ is derived by induction.