AbstractLet f be a Hecke cusp form of weight k for the full modular group, and let {\{\lambda_{f}(n)\}_{n\geq 1}} be the sequence of its normalized Fourier coefficients. Motivated by the problem of the first sign change of {\lambda_{f}(n)}, we investigate the range of x (in terms of k) for which there are cancellations in the sum {S_{f}(x)=\sum_{n\leq x}\lambda_{f}(n)}. We first show that {S_{f}(x)=o(x\log x)} implies that {\lambda_{f}(n)<0} for some {n\leq x}. We also prove that {S_{f}(x)=o(x\log x)} in the range {\log x/\log\log k\to\infty} assuming the Riemann hypothesis for {L(s,f)}, and furthermore that this range is best possible unconditionally. More precisely, we establish the existence of many Hecke cusp forms f of large weight k, for which {S_{f}(x)\gg_{A}x\log x}, when {x=(\log k)^{A}}. Our results are {\mathrm{GL}_{2}} analogues of work of Granville and Soundararajan for character sums, and could also be generalized to other families of automorphic forms.
Sign changes of Hecke eigenvalues of Siegel cusp forms of genus two
