Defining newforms in characteristic $p$

Abstract

The theory of newforms, due to Atkin and Lehner, provides a powerful method for decomposing spaces of modular forms. However, many problems occur when trying to generalise this theory to characteristic $p$. Recently, Deo and Medvedovsky have suggested a way around these problems by using purely algebraic notions to define newforms. In this thesis, we describe the methods of Deo and Medvedovsky in detail and generalise their results where possible.