Abstract. We explicitly construct the canonical rational models of Shimura curves, both analytically in terms of modular forms and algebraically in terms of coefficients of genus 2 curves, in the cases of quaternion algebras of discriminant 6 and 10. This emulates the classical construction in the elliptic curve case. We also give families of genus 2 QM curves, whose Jacobians are the corresponding abelian surfaces on the Shimura curve, and with coefficients that are modular forms of weight 12. We apply these results to show that our j-functions are supported exactly at those primes where the genus 2 curve does not admit potentially good reduction, and construct fields where this potentially good reduction is attained. Finally, using j, we construct the fields of moduli and definition for some moduli problems associated to the Atkin-Lehner group actions.

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We study the differential structure of the ring of modular forms for the unit group of the quaternion algebra over Q of discriminant 6. Using these results we give an explicit formula for Taylor expansions of the modular forms at the elliptic points. Using appropriate normalizations we show that the Taylor coefficients at the elliptic points of the generators of the ring of modular forms are all rational and 6-integral. This gives a rational structure on the ring of modular forms. We give a recursive formula for computing the Taylor coefficients of modular forms at elliptic points and, as an application, give an algorithm for computing modular polynomials.

The Shimura curve of discriminant 10 is uniformized by a subgroup of an arithmetic (2,2,2,3) quadrilateral group. We derive the differential structure of the ring of modular forms for the Shimura curve and relate the ring generators to explicit Heun functions for the quadrilateral group. We also show that the Picard–Fuchs equation of the associated family of abelian surfaces has solutions that are modular forms. These results are used to completely describe the exceptional sets of the Heun functions, and we show how to find examples like Hl272,736;112,712,23,12;−9625=21/252/334/3.