At Simple comparison of positive ternary quadratic form representation counts Jeremy answered:
"The reason is that the theta series for the sums of three squares form is an eigenfunction for all the Hecke operators (which is encoded by the relations $R(np^{2}) = (p+1 - \left(\frac{-n}{p}\right)) R(n) - p R(n/p^{2})$ and $R(4n) = R(n)$), while in general, the theta series for other ternary forms will not be. It should be easy to show that if $f(x,y,z)$ is such that its theta series is a Hecke eigenform, then $f(x,y,z)$ must be regular."
I did some experiments last night, and very comprehensive experiments just now, and I have a little conjecture...
Is it the case that Jeremy's condition implies class number one? I wrote a little program, all it does is test, for a form and a prime $p<15,$ and the first $20$ numbers $n$ prime to $p$ that are represented, do we always have $$ R(n p^2 ) \geq p R(n)? $$ The result: yes for the 794 class number one positive ternaries, no for the other 119 regular (or probably regular) forms, and no for evidently irregular forms.
If this is all true, do we always get ( with primes for which the form is isotropic in $\mathbb Q_p$) relations of the sort $$R(np^{2}) = (p+1 - \left(\frac{-\Delta n}{p}\right)) R(n) - p R(n/p^{2})$$ where, with $$ f(x,y,z) = a x^2 + b y^2 + c z^2 + r y z + s z x + t x y $$ we have Lehman's discriminant $$ \Delta = 4abc+rst - ar^2 - b s^2 - c t^2. $$
This is so cool.
Saturday, output showing the 119 regular (or probably regular) forms of class number larger than one fail my simplified test:
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counted 913 regular
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11 : 1 1 3 0 1 0
count is 3 ; n = 5 12 ; 20 16 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
15 : 1 2 2 1 0 0
count is 5 ; n = 9 22 ; 36 42 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
17 : 1 2 3 2 1 1
count is 8 ; n = 15 20 ; 60 36 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
21 : 1 2 3 0 0 1
count is 6 ; n = 11 20 ; 44 36 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
24 : 1 3 3 3 1 1
count is 6 ; n = 9 22 ; 225 102 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
27 : 1 1 7 0 1 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 4 ; 4 4 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
27 : 1 1 9 0 0 1
count is 1 ; n = 1 6 ; 4 6 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -6
27 : 1 2 4 1 0 1
count is 4 ; n = 7 10 ; 175 38 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -12
27 : 1 3 3 3 0 0
count is 8 ; n = 25 38 ; 100 50 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -26
32 : 1 3 3 1 0 1
count is 12 ; n = 25 22 ; 225 62 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
44 : 1 3 4 0 0 1
count is 16 ; n = 31 36 ; 279 96 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -12
45 : 1 3 4 0 1 0
count is 10 ; n = 27 22 ; 108 42 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
48 : 1 3 5 3 1 0
count is 10 ; n = 17 20 ; 425 84 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
50 : 1 2 7 2 1 0
count is 7 ; n = 13 16 ; 117 40 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
56 : 1 3 5 1 1 0
count is 5 ; n = 9 10 ; 225 46 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
63 : 1 3 6 3 0 0
count is 9 ; n = 25 22 ; 100 42 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
64 : 1 1 16 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 4 ; 9 4 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
72 : 1 3 7 2 1 1
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
72 : 1 3 7 3 1 0
count is 7 ; n = 13 20 ; 325 84 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
75 : 1 4 5 0 0 1
count is 9 ; n = 29 20 ; 116 36 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
80 : 1 3 7 1 1 0
count is 4 ; n = 9 10 ; 441 66 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
81 : 1 3 7 0 1 0
count is 6 ; n = 12 14 ; 300 50 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -20
100 : 1 2 13 2 0 0
count is 9 ; n = 17 16 ; 153 40 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
108 : 1 1 36 0 0 1
count is 1 ; n = 1 6 ; 25 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -24
108 : 1 3 10 3 1 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
108 : 1 4 7 0 1 0
count is 7 ; n = 13 16 ; 325 32 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -48
108 : 1 5 7 5 1 1
count is 3 ; n = 7 10 ; 175 38 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -12
120 : 1 3 11 3 1 0
count is 9 ; n = 17 16 ; 833 80 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -32
121 : 1 3 11 0 0 1
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 4 2 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
135 : 1 3 12 3 0 0
count is 5 ; n = 12 10 ; 588 62 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
135 : 2 2 9 0 0 1
count is 5 ; n = 17 20 ; 68 36 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
144 : 1 3 13 3 1 0
count is 9 ; n = 19 20 ; 475 84 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
147 : 1 2 21 0 0 1
count is 8 ; n = 29 20 ; 116 36 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
189 : 2 3 8 0 1 0
count is 4 ; n = 11 10 ; 44 18 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
216 : 1 3 19 3 1 0
count is 13 ; n = 31 20 ; 775 84 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
216 : 3 5 5 2 3 3
count is 13 ; n = 39 20 ; 975 84 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
225 : 2 2 15 0 0 1
count is 5 ; n = 23 20 ; 92 36 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
240 : 1 5 13 2 1 1
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 49 10 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
243 : 1 7 9 0 0 1
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 4 2 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
243 : 2 3 11 3 1 0
count is 9 ; n = 35 12 ; 140 20 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
256 : 1 2 32 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
256 : 1 4 16 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 9 2 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
256 : 1 5 13 2 0 0
count is 11 ; n = 29 14 ; 261 34 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
289 : 3 5 6 1 2 3
count is 6 ; n = 23 10 ; 92 18 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
297 : 1 6 13 3 1 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 4 2 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
360 : 1 3 31 3 1 0
count is 14 ; n = 37 20 ; 1813 124 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
392 : 3 3 12 -2 2 1
count is 3 ; n = 13 10 ; 117 26 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
400 : 3 3 12 2 2 1
count is 6 ; n = 23 10 ; 207 26 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
405 : 2 5 11 2 2 1
count is 1 ; n = 2 2 ; 98 8 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -6
432 : 1 3 36 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
432 : 1 3 37 3 1 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
432 : 1 4 28 4 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
432 : 1 12 12 12 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
432 : 3 5 9 3 0 3
count is 5 ; n = 17 10 ; 425 42 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
441 : 3 6 7 0 0 3
count is 7 ; n = 31 20 ; 124 36 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
484 : 1 3 44 0 0 1
count is 14 ; n = 53 16 ; 477 40 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
576 : 1 4 36 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
600 : 5 7 7 6 5 5
count is 10 ; n = 37 20 ; 1813 124 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
648 : 1 7 25 5 1 1
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
675 : 1 4 45 0 0 1
count is 12 ; n = 69 20 ; 276 36 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
675 : 5 6 6 3 0 0
count is 5 ; n = 29 20 ; 116 36 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
720 : 3 5 15 3 3 3
count is 1 ; n = 3 2 ; 147 10 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
768 : 1 8 24 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
896 : 3 6 14 4 2 2
count is 5 ; n = 19 6 ; 171 14 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
972 : 1 7 36 0 0 1
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
1024 : 1 8 32 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
1024 : 1 16 16 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 9 2 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
1024 : 3 3 32 0 0 2
count is 12 ; n = 59 20 ; 531 52 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
1080 : 3 9 11 3 3 0
count is 5 ; n = 17 8 ; 833 40 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
1125 : 1 10 29 5 1 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 4 2 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
1125 : 2 7 22 -6 1 1
count is 1 ; n = 2 2 ; 98 12 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
1296 : 3 4 28 4 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 3 2 ; 75 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
1323 : 2 8 21 0 0 1
count is 5 ; n = 29 10 ; 116 18 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
1600 : 3 3 51 -2 2 2
count is 11 ; n = 59 16 ; 531 40 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
1620 : 5 8 11 -4 1 2
count is 2 ; n = 8 2 ; 392 8 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -6
1728 : 1 12 36 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
1792 : 5 8 12 0 4 0
count is 12 ; n = 53 16 ; 477 32 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
1800 : 5 11 11 7 5 5
count is 8 ; n = 41 16 ; 2009 80 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -32
2048 : 1 8 64 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
2160 : 5 9 15 9 3 3
count is 2 ; n = 9 2 ; 441 10 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
2304 : 3 8 24 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 3 2 ; 75 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
2592 : 5 9 17 6 5 3
count is 3 ; n = 17 6 ; 425 26 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
3072 : 1 16 48 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
3375 : 2 15 32 15 1 0
count is 3 ; n = 23 4 ; 92 4 p = 2 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
3840 : 5 8 24 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 5 2 ; 245 6 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
4032 : 7 8 20 0 4 4
count is 3 ; n = 19 2 ; 2299 18 p = 11 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
4096 : 3 11 32 0 0 2
count is 8 ; n = 59 10 ; 531 26 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
4500 : 7 8 23 6 7 2
count is 1 ; n = 8 2 ; 392 12 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -2
4536 : 5 9 27 0 3 3
count is 8 ; n = 41 6 ; 1025 22 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
5120 : 7 12 16 0 0 4
count is 12 ; n = 79 16 ; 711 32 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
5184 : 5 8 36 0 0 4
count is 7 ; n = 41 6 ; 1025 26 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
5400 : 7 7 28 -2 2 1
count is 4 ; n = 37 10 ; 1813 62 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
6912 : 1 16 112 16 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
6912 : 1 24 72 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
6912 : 1 48 48 48 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
6912 : 4 13 37 2 4 4
count is 1 ; n = 4 2 ; 100 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
6912 : 5 5 72 0 0 2
count is 11 ; n = 77 16 ; 1925 64 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
6912 : 8 9 24 0 0 0
count is 2 ; n = 9 2 ; 225 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
8232 : 5 13 33 -6 3 1
count is 14 ; n = 73 6 ; 1825 24 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -6
8448 : 7 15 23 -6 2 6
count is 8 ; n = 47 6 ; 1175 26 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
9216 : 3 16 48 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 3 2 ; 75 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
10125 : 9 11 29 -4 3 6
count is 2 ; n = 14 2 ; 1694 18 p = 11 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
11520 : 8 15 24 0 0 0
count is 2 ; n = 15 2 ; 735 6 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
11520 : 11 16 19 8 2 8
count is 2 ; n = 19 4 ; 2299 36 p = 11 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
12544 : 3 19 56 0 0 2
count is 11 ; n = 83 10 ; 747 26 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
19200 : 1 40 120 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 49 6 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
20736 : 3 16 112 16 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 3 2 ; 75 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
20736 : 7 15 55 -6 2 6
count is 8 ; n = 79 8 ; 1975 36 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
24696 : 11 15 39 -3 6 3
count is 7 ; n = 53 4 ; 1325 16 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
25344 : 5 20 68 -8 4 4
count is 12 ; n = 101 10 ; 2525 34 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -16
25600 : 3 27 80 0 0 2
count is 9 ; n = 107 10 ; 963 26 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
27648 : 1 48 144 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 1 2 ; 25 2 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
27648 : 5 20 77 20 2 4
count is 6 ; n = 77 8 ; 1925 32 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
27648 : 9 17 48 0 0 6
count is 1 ; n = 9 2 ; 225 6 p = 5 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
32000 : 11 16 51 8 2 8
count is 9 ; n = 91 8 ; 819 20 p = 3 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -4
34560 : 13 24 28 0 4 0
count is 3 ; n = 37 6 ; 1813 30 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -12
57600 : 3 40 120 0 0 0
count is 1 ; n = 3 2 ; 147 6 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
57600 : 7 23 92 12 4 2
count is 13 ; n = 143 8 ; 7007 48 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
172800 : 9 41 120 0 0 6
count is 1 ; n = 9 2 ; 441 6 p = 7 ; R(n p^2 ) - p R(n) = -8
jagy@phobeusjunior: grep " p = " Class_Number_NOT_One.txt | wc
119 2737 9684
jagy@phobeusjunior: date
Sat Sep 6 10:51:20 PDT 2014
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Later Saturday: I really, really like this one. In case anyone bites, related questions include: for ternary forms, to what extent does class number one (the 794) give these nice formulas as in Hecke eigenforms? I am capable of gathering evidence for and against that myself, I am guessing the only wiggle room is primes dividing the discriminant.
In higher dimension: what can one say about higher theta series? For (positive) quaternary forms, we would be talking about counting representations of numbers, but then we would count representations of binary forms, for convenience i would have them Gauss reduced which is easy. Andrew Earnest initiated the study of quaternaries representing binaries and showed there are finitely many "2-regular" quaternaries. Meanwhile, Watson showed that class number one occurs only up to dimension 10. Quite recently, Nebe's students Lorch and Kirschmer compiled a reliable list of all class number one forms. Can we make a theory of theta series for, especially, codimension 2 representations, that includes the Hecke operator stuff, and relate that to class number one?
Certainly seems to be a nice theory of such higher theta series, the key phrase seems to be "Siegel modular forms," see http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.4909 and other stuff by Schulze-Pillot, also for variety http://www.math.snu.ac.kr/~mhkim/thesis/thesis_33.pdf
Sunday; upon further reflection, I suspect that Siegel's weighted average representation over a genus always obeys these sorts of laws, not something I knew. With class number one, the theta series for the form agrees with that of the genus, hence explaining one direction of this pretty well. It also justifies the prevalent practice, for even dimension 4 or larger, of identifying forms with improper ( determinant $-1$) equivalence, because they represent the same numbers (or lower dimension quadratic forms) with the same representation counts.
Also, there is no real problem replacing a number $n$ with an equivalence class $N$ of lower dimensional quadratic forms/lattices; this is how Schulze-Pillot writes it. I have enough software written to experiment with quaternaries representing binaries. I am not sure about other codimension; quaternaries representing numbers is codimension 3, maybe the standard relation (from Jeremy's answer) changes form in codimension other than 2.
Found a nice summary pdf by Winfried Kohnen. Don't see any explicit laws on representation counts, maybe reading between the lines. There are quite a number of relevant items by Lynne Walling