Free algebras of modular forms on ball quotients

In this paper we study algebras of modular forms on unitary groups of signature $(n,1)$. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for an algebra of unitary modular forms to be free in terms of the modular Jacobian. As a corollary we obtain a criterion that guarantees in many cases that, if $L$ is an even lattice with complex multiplication and the ring of modular forms for its orthogonal group is a polynomial algebra, then the ring of modular forms for its unitary group is also a polynomial algebra. We prove that a number of rings of unitary modular forms are freely generated by applying these criteria to Hermitian lattices over the rings of integers of $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{d})$ for $d=-1,-2,-3$. As a byproduct, our modular groups provide many explicit examples of finite-covolume reflection groups acting on complex hyperbolic space.