In the paper ‘Automorphic functions for a Whitehead-complement group’, [Osaka J
Math 43 (2006) 63–77] Matsumoto, Nishi and Yoshida constructed automorphic
functions on real 3–dimensional hyperbolic space for a Kleinian group called the
Whitehead-link-complement group. For a Kleinian group (of the first kind), no
automorphic function/form has been studied before. In this note, their motivation is
presented with a historical background.
Dedicated to Professor Fred Cohen on
his sixtieth birthday