Vector-valued modular forms and the modular orbifold of elliptic curves

This paper presents the theory of holomorphic vector-valued modular forms from a geometric perspective. More precisely, we define certain holomorphic vector bundles on the modular orbifold of generalized elliptic curves whose sections are vector-valued modular forms. This perspective simplifies the theory, and it clarifies the role that exponents of representations of [Formula: see text] play in the holomorphic theory of vector-valued modular forms. Further, it allows one to use standard techniques in algebraic geometry to deduce free-module theorems and dimension formulae (deduced previously by other authors using different techniques), by identifying the modular orbifold with the weighted projective line [Formula: see text].