Criteria for periodicity and an application to elliptic functions

Abstract

Let P and Q be relatively prime integers greater than 1, and f a real valued discretely supported function on a finite dimensional real vector space V. We prove that if f_{P}(x)=f(Px)-f(x) and f_{Q}(x)=f(Qx)-f(x) are both \Lambda-periodic for some lattice \Lambda\subset V, then so is f (up to a modification at 0). This result is used to prove a theorem on the arithmetic of elliptic function fields. In the last section we discuss the higher rank analogue of this theorem and explain why it fails in rank 2. A full discussion of the higher rank case will appear in a forthcoming work.