ARTICLE IN PRESS

Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407

http://www.elsevier.com/locate/aim

Ramanujan’s ‘‘Lost’’ Notebook VIII: the entire

Rogers–Ramanujan function$
George E. Andrews

Department of Mathematics, Number Theory Group, The Pennsylvania State University, Room 218,
McAllister Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Received 23 May 2003; accepted 18 March 2004
Available online 14 May 2004

Communicated by Anders Björner

Abstract

In the Lost Notebook, Ramanujan presents a truly enigmatic infinite product expansion for
the two variable Rogers–Ramanujan series. In this paper, we prove this formula by a careful
analysis of the Stieltjes–Wigert polynomials.
r 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The third identity on p. 57 of Ramanujan’s ‘‘Lost Notebook’’ [6] reads as follows

(with x replaced by q):

X 2 N
Y 
N
an qn aq2n1
¼ 1þ ; ð1:1Þ
n¼0
ðq; qÞn n¼1 1  qn y1  q2n y2  q3n y3  ?

where

1
y1 ¼ ; ð1:2Þ
ð1  qÞc2 ðqÞ

$
Partially supported by National Science Foundation Grant DMS-0200047.


Fax: +1-814-865-3735.
E-mail address: andrews@math.psu.edu.

0001-8708/$ - see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.aim.2004.03.012
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
394 G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407

y2 ¼ 0; ð1:3Þ

PN ð2nþ1Þq2nþ1
q þ q3 n¼0 1q2nþ1
y3 ¼  ; ð1:4Þ
ð1  qÞð1  q2 Þð1  q3 Þc2 ðqÞ ð1  qÞ3 c6 ðqÞ

y4 ¼ y 1 y 3 ; ð1:5Þ

X
N
ðq2 ; q2 ÞN
cðqÞ ¼ qnðnþ1Þ=2 ¼ ; ð1:6Þ
n¼0
ðq; q2 ÞN

where
ðA; qÞn ¼ ð1  AÞð1  AqÞð1  Aq2 Þ?ð1  Aqn1 Þ

and 0oqo1 (as will be assumed throughout this paper).

At first glance, this assertion is bizarre to say the least. In order to make clear why
this is disturbing, let us recall the famous Rogers–Ramanujan identities [1, p. 104]

X
N 2
qn Y
N
1
¼ ð1:7Þ
n¼0
ðq; qÞn n¼0 ð1  q5nþ1Þ ð1  q5nþ4 Þ

and

XN 2
qn þn Y
N
1
¼ 5nþ2
: ð1:8Þ
n¼0
ðq; qÞn n¼0 ð1  q Þð1  q5nþ3 Þ

It is natural to expect that (1.7) and (1.8) should in some way be special cases of
(1.1), but this is clearly not the case. The mystery is compounded when we recall the
following formula [5, p. 292] from which (1.7) and (1.8) are deduced:
!
X N
an qn
2
1 X N
ðaq; qÞn1 ð1Þn a2n qnð5n1Þ=2 ð1  aq2n Þ
¼ 1þ : ð1:9Þ
n¼0
ðq; qÞn ðaq; qÞN n¼1
ðq; qÞn

Now the mystery is even deeper because the left-hand side of (1.9) is identical with
the left-hand side of (1.1), but the right-hand side of (1.9) seems even further
removed from the right-hand side of (1.1).
The key idea is that the series on the left-hand side of (1.1) is an entire function of
a for fixed q with 0oqo1: Furthermore it is the limit of a sequence of orthogonal
polynomials, the Stieltjes–Wigert polynomials (cf. [7,12]). In Section 2, we shall
collect all the necessary background material. Section 3 is devoted to a more detailed
account of where the zeros of this function lie. In Section 4, we develop expansions
for the zeros; this will allow us to find the formulas (1.2)–(1.5) and finally to
prove (1.1).
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407 395

2. The Szego+ theorem

G. Szego+ [8] studied extensively the polynomial [8, p. 245, Eq. (8)], (cf. [9, p. 33]).

Xn 
n n2 þn n
Kn ðxÞ ¼ q x; ð2:1Þ
n¼0 n

with q real, 0oqo1; where

8
 < ð1  qn Þð1  qn1 Þ?ð1  qnnþ1 Þ
n if 0%n%n;
¼ ð1  qn Þð1  qn1 Þ?ð1  qÞ
n :
0 otherwise:
2
In [8, Section 3], he sets q ¼ e1=2k and quotes Wigert’s proof that the polynomials
n 1 1
ð1Þn q2þ4 Kn ðq2 xÞ
Qn ðxÞ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð2:2Þ
ð1  qÞð1  q2 Þ?ð1  qn Þ

are orthogonal on ½0; NÞ with weight function pðxÞ given by

k 2 2
pðxÞ ¼ pffiffiffi ek log x ; ð2:3Þ
p

see [12].
From here, Szego+ applies standard arguments from the theory of orthogonal
polynomials to deduce that [8, p. 250, Property III] the zeros of each Kn ðxÞ are
simple, real and negative. We can add a little bit to Szego+’s deductions from the
general theory provided q is small.

Theorem 2.1. For 0oqo14; ð1Þi Kn ðq2i1 Þ40 for i ¼ 0; 1; 2; y; n:

Proof.

X
n 
i 2i1 i n n2 2in n
ð1Þ Kn ðq Þ ¼ ð1Þ ð1Þ q
n¼0 n
XN 
ni ðniÞ2 i2 n
¼ ð1Þ q
n¼N n
XN 
2 2 n
¼ qi ð1Þn qn
n¼N nþi
 X N   !
i2 n n n2 n n
¼q þ ð1Þ q þ :
i n¼1 n þ i nþi
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
396 G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407

Now for 0oqo14; we note that


A 1 1
0% % ¼
B ðq; qÞN 1  q  q2 þ q5 þ q7  ?
1 1 16
o 2
o ¼
1  q  q 1  1=4  1=16 11

and since the coefficients of ½AB are always non-negative, we see that for 0%B%A;

A
^1:
B
Therefore with 0%i%n;
ð1Þi Kn ðq2i1 Þ
!
i2 16 XN
2
^q 12 qn
11 n¼1
!
N  j
i2 16 1 32 X 1
^q 12 
11 4 11 j¼4 4
!
2 8 32 ð1=4Þ4
¼ qi 1 
11 11 1  1=4
8 32
¼1 
11 11
3
43
8 1
^1  3
11 4
9 2
^1 ¼ : &
11 11

Corollary 2.1. For 0oqo14; the ith zero of Kn ðxÞ lies in the interval
ðq12i ; q12i Þ; i ¼ 1; 2; y; n:

Proof. This follows immediately from Theorem 2.1 and the fact that Kn ðxÞ is a
polynomial in x of degree n with alternating positive and negative values at
q1 ; q3 ; y; q2n1 : &

3. The infinite product representation

We begin this section by recalling that if f ðzÞ is an entire function of order r with
zeros z1 ; z2 ; y and f ð0Þa0; then [4, p. 174]
YN 
HðzÞ z
f ðzÞ ¼ e 1 ; ð3:1Þ
n¼1
zn
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407 397

where
n log n
r ¼ lim ð3:2Þ
n-N logðja1n jÞ

and
X
N
f ðzÞ ¼ an z n : ð3:3Þ
n¼0

Let us apply this to KN ðzÞ: In this case

n log n
0 % r % lim  
n-N ð1qÞð1q2 Þ?ð1qn Þ
log
q n2
n log n
% lim ¼ 0: ð3:4Þ
n-N jlogðq; qÞN j  n2 log q

Hence eHðzÞ is a constant, and since KN ð0Þ ¼ 1; we see that

YN 
z
KN ðzÞ ¼ 1 : ð3:5Þ
n¼1
zn

Furthermore it follows from Corollary 2.1 and the interlacing theorem [3, p. 28]
that zn lies in the interval ðq12n ; q12n Þ for n ¼ 1; 2; 3; y : Hence we have
proved that for 0oqo14

X 2 N
Y 
N
an qn a
¼ 1 ; ð3:6Þ
n¼0
ðq; qÞn n¼1 qzn

with q12n 4zn 4  q12n :

What we need now is some way of obtaining explicit series for each zn : If we
write,

zn ¼ q2n on ðqÞ; ð3:7Þ

then for 0oqo1; qoon ðqÞo  q1 :

4. Some theta series

In the final sections, we shall need information about

X
N
2
ym;k ¼ ym;k ðqÞ ¼ ð1Þn qn þmn
nðn  1Þ?ðn  k þ 1Þ: ð4:1Þ
n¼N
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
398 G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407

These series are closely tied to the classical theta series; indeed, in the notation of
[11, Chapter 21],
X
N
2 ðq; qÞN
y0;0 ¼ ð1Þn qn ¼ ¼ y4 ð4:2Þ
n¼N
ðq; qÞN

and
X
N
2
y1;1 ¼ ð1Þn qn þn n ¼ ðq2 ; q2 Þ3N ; ð4:3Þ
n¼N

an identity of Jacobi [11, p. 472].

The following identities (most of which are scattered in the literature) will be
utilized in Section 5.
2
y2m;0 ¼ ð1Þm qm y4 ; ð4:4Þ

2
y2mþ1;0 ¼ ð1Þm qm m
y1;0 ¼ 0ðbecause n-  n  1 reveals y1;0 ¼ y1;0 Þ; ð4:5Þ

2
y2m;1 ¼ ð1Þm1 qm my4 ; ð4:6Þ
2
y2mþ1;1 ¼ ð1Þm qm m y1;1 ; ð4:7Þ
2 2
y2m;2 ¼ ð1Þm qm þ1
y4 0 þ ð1Þm mðm þ 1Þqm y4 ; ð4:8Þ
2
y2mþ1;2 ¼ 2ð1Þmþ1 ðm þ 1Þqm m y1;1 ; ð4:9Þ
2 2
y2m;3 ¼ 3ð1Þm1 qm þ1 y4 0 þ mðm þ 1Þðm þ 2Þð1Þm1 qm y4 ; ð4:10Þ
2 2
y2mþ1;3 ¼ ð1Þm q1mm y1;1 0 þ ð1Þm qm m
3ðm þ 1Þðm þ 2Þy1;1 ; ð4:11Þ
2 2
y2mþ1;4 ¼ 4ð1Þmþ1 q1m m
y1;1 0 þ 4ð1Þmþ1 qm m
ðm þ 1Þðm þ 2Þðm þ 3Þy1;1 : ð4:12Þ
Each of these is proved in the same manner. We illustrate two proofs; the
remainder are similar.
X
N
2
y2mþ1;2 ¼ ð1Þn qn þnþ2mn nðn  1Þ
n¼N

2
X
N
2
¼ ð1Þm qm m
ð1Þn qn þn
ðn  mÞðn  m  1Þ
n¼N

2
XN
2  
¼ ð1Þm qm m
ð1Þn qn þn
n2 þ n  ð2m þ 2Þn þ mðm þ 1Þ
n¼N
mþ1 2
¼ 0 þ 2ð1Þ ðm þ 1Þqm m
y1;1 þ 0
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407 399

and
X
N
2
y2m;3 ¼ ð1Þn qn þ2mn nðn  1Þðn  2Þ
n¼N

2
X
N
2
¼ ð1Þm qm ð1Þn qn ðn  mÞðn  m  1Þðn  m  2Þ
n¼N

2
XN
2
¼ ð1Þm qm ð1Þn qn n3  3ðm þ 1Þn2
n¼N

þ ð3m2 þ 6m þ 2Þn  mðm þ 1Þðm þ 2Þ
2
¼ ð1Þm qm ð0  3qy4 0 þ 0  mðm þ 1Þðm þ 2Þy4 Þ:
Comparable formulas can be found for all ym;k ; and elegant formulas for the
coefficients can be produced using the methods of [2, Section 2].
2 2
þm
Theorem 4.1. Both qm y2m;k and qm y2mþ1;k are analytic functions of q inside jqjo1:

Proof.

2
X
N
2
qm y2m;k ¼ ð1Þn qðnþmÞ nðn  1Þ?ðn  k þ 1Þ
n¼N
X
N
2
¼ ð1Þm ð1Þn qn ðn  mÞðn  m  1Þ?ðn  m  k þ 1Þ
n¼N

and

2
X
N
2
qm þm
y2mþ1;k ¼ ð1Þn qðnþmÞ þðnþmÞ
nðn  1Þ?ðn  k þ 1Þ
n¼N
X
N
2
¼ ð1Þm ð1Þn qn þn ðn  mÞðn  m  1Þ?ðn  m  k þ 1Þ: &
n¼N

mþ1
Corollary 4.1. qð 2 Þ ymþ1;k is analytic in q for jqjo1:

Proof.
2mþ1 2 2
qð 2 Þ y2mþ1;k ¼ qm ðqm þm
y2mþ1;k Þ;

and
2m 2 2
qð 2 Þ y2m;k ¼ qm m ðqm y2m;k Þ:

So our assertion follows from Theorem 4.1. &

 ARTICLE IN PRESS
400 G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407

5. A formal power series

Theorem 5.1. Let yi ¼ yi ðqÞ; i ¼ 1; 2; 3; y; satisfy for each N^0;

Njþ1 k
XN
ð1ÞNj qð 2 Þ X ð1Þk1 þ?þkj yk11 yyj j yNjþ1;k1 þ?þkj
¼ 0:
j¼0
ðq; qÞNj k1 þ2k2 þ?þjkj ¼j
k1 !ykj !
ð5:1Þ

Then each yi is a uniquely defined function of q analytic inside jqjo1; and the following
identity holds as a formal power series identity in z

X
N
2
ð1Þn qn þn ð1  zy1  z2 y2  z3 y3  ?Þn ðzqnþ1 ; qÞN ¼ 0: ð5:2Þ
n¼N

Proof. We begin with N ¼ 1 in (5.1) which asserts

qy2;0
0¼  y1 y1;1 ;
1q

hence

y4 1
y1 ¼ ¼ ;
ð1  qÞðq2 ; q2 Þ3N ð1  qÞcðqÞ2

which we observe in passing is identical with the y1 appearing in (1.2).

For N ¼ 2; in (5.1), we see that

q3 q y2 y1;2
0¼ y3;0 þ y1 y2;1 þ 1  y2 y1;1
ðq; qÞ2 ð1  qÞ 2

and by (4.5)
 
y1 y1 y1;2 qy2;1
y2 ¼ þ
y1;1 2 ð1  qÞ
 
y1 y4 y1;1 y4
¼  þ ¼ 0;
y1;1 ð1  qÞy1;1 ð1  qÞ

coinciding with (1.3).

For N ¼ 3; we find
 6 
1 q y4;0 q3 y1 y3;1 qy21 y2;2 y3 y1;3
y3 ¼     1
y1;1 ðq; qÞ3 ðq; qÞ2 2ð1  qÞ 6
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407 401

and after simplification

 
q þ q3 1 y4 0 1 y1;1 0
q
y3 ¼ þ 
ðq; qÞ3 cðqÞ2 ð1  qÞ3 cðqÞ6 2 y4 6 y1;1
PN ð2n1Þq2n1
q þ q3 n¼1 1q2n1
¼  ;
ðq; qÞ3 cðqÞ2 3
ð1  qÞ cðqÞ 6

where the final step requires logarithmic differentiation of the product representa-
tions of y4 and y1;1 : Again we have a result coinciding with the y3 in (1.4).
The case N ¼ 4 is the last we shall treat explicitly.

1 q10 y5;0 q6 y1 y4;1 q3 y21 y3;2
y4 ¼ þ þ ð5:3Þ
y1;1 ðq; qÞ4 ðq; qÞ3 ðq; qÞ2 2


qy31 y2;3 qy3 y2;1 y41 y1;4
þ þ þ þ y1 y3 y1;2 : ð5:4Þ
ð1  qÞ6 1q 24

We may simplify this latter expression to one involving y4 ; y4 0 ; y1;1 and y1;1 involving
(4.4)–(4.12). Thus after simplification
 0 
2ðq þ q3 Þy31 4 qy4 q y1;1 0
y4 ¼  y y
1 3 þ y 1 
ð1  q2 Þð1  q3 Þ y4 3 y1;1
¼ y1 y3 :

For larger N; we see that yN always appears uniquely in (5.1). Indeed the only
term containing yN has k1 ¼ ? ¼ kN1 ¼ 0 and kN ¼ 1; j ¼ N: This term is
therefore

yN y1;1 :

Consequently for N41; we see that

Njþ1
k
1 X N
ð1ÞNj q 2 X ð1Þk yk11 yyj j yNjþ1;k
yN ¼
y1;1 j¼0 ðq; qÞNj k1 þ2k2 ?þjkj ¼j
k1 !k2 !ykj !
ðk:¼k1 þ?þkj Þ
excluding
k1 ¼?¼kN1 ¼0;kN ¼1

and proceeding by mathematical induction on N and invoking Corollary 4.1, we see

that each yN is analytic in q inside the unit circle.
Now we turn to (5.2). Clearly the left-hand side of (5.2) defines a formal power
series in z and q: While it first appears that ðzqnþ1 ; qÞN might contribute a negative
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
402 G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407

power of q; we observe that by Euler’s series

mþ1
XN
ð1Þm qð 2 Þþmn zm
nþ1
ðzq ; qÞN ¼ ;
m¼0
ðq; qÞm

consequently the exponent on q is

     
mþ1 mþnþ1 nþ1
n2 þ n þ þ mn ¼ þ ;
2 2 2

which is never negative.

Now (5.2) is equivalent to

1 dN X N
2
0 ¼ ½z0 N
ð1Þn qn þn ð1  zy1  z2 y2  ?Þn ðzqnþ1 ; qÞN ;
N! dz n¼N

where

X
N
½z0 am z m ¼ a0 :
m¼0

To find this formal Nth derivative, we need several facts. First

iþ1
dH XN
ð1Þi iði  1Þ?ði  H þ 1ÞziH qð 2 Þþin
nþ1
½z0 ðzq ; qÞ ¼ ½z 0

dzH N
i¼H
ðq; qÞi
Hþ1
H
H!qð 2 ÞþHn ð1Þ
¼ :
ðq; qÞH

Next the Faa di Bruno formula tells us that

dM
½z0 ð1  y1 z  y2 z2  ?Þn
dzM
X M!nðn  1Þ?ðn  k þ 1Þð1Þk yk11 yk22 yykMM
¼ :
k þ2k þ?þMk ¼M
k1 !k2 !ykM !
1 2 M
k:¼k1 þ?þkM

Also Leibniz’s rule tells us that

XN  
dN N ðNjÞ
f ðzÞgðzÞ ¼ f ðzÞgð jÞ ðzÞ:
dzN j¼0 j
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407 403

Therefore

1 dN X N
2
0 ¼ ½z0 N
ð1Þn qn þn ð1  zy1  z2 y2  ?Þn ðzqnþ1 ; qÞN
N! dz n¼N
N  
1 X N
2
X N
¼ ð1Þn qn þn
N! n¼N j¼0 j
k
X j!nðn  1Þ?ðn  k þ 1Þð1Þk yk11 yyj j

k1 þ2k2 þ?þjkj ¼j
k1 !k2 !ykj !
k:¼k1 þ?þkj ;ki ^0

ðN  jÞ! ðNjþ1ÞþðNjÞn

q 2 ð1ÞNj
ðq; qÞNj

Njþ1 k
XN
ð1ÞNj qð 2 Þ X ð1Þk yk11 yyj j yNjþ1;k
¼
j¼0
ðq; qÞNj k1 þ2k2 þ?þjkj ¼j
k1 !k2 !ykj !
k:¼k1 þ?þkj ;ki ^0

and (5.2) is established. &

6. The zeros of KN ðzÞ

We know from Section 3 that KN ðzÞ has real, simple, negative zeros z1 ; z2 ; z3 ; y
with

q12n 4zn 4  q12n ð6:1Þ

provided 0oqo14: We shall sharpen this inequality.

Theorem 6.1. For 0oqo14;

q12n 4zn 4  q2n : ð6:2Þ

Proof. We know that ð1Þi KN ðq2i1 Þ40 from the proof of Theorem 2.1. We
need to show that ð1Þi KN ðq2i Þ40 also. We shall require Jacobi’s Triple Product
Identity [1, p. 21, Theorem 2.8]

X
N
2
qn zn ¼ ðq2 ; q2 ÞN ðzq; q2 ÞN ðz1 q; q2 ÞN : ð6:3Þ
n¼N
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
404 G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407

Now

XN 2
qn þn zn
KN ðzÞ ¼
n¼0
ðq; qÞn
1 XN
2
¼ qn þn zn ðqnþ1 ; qÞN
ðq; qÞN n¼N
mþ1
1 XN
2
XN
ð1Þm
q 2 þmn
¼ qn þn zn
ðq; qÞN n¼N m¼0
ðq; qÞm
8 2mþ1
1 <X
2
N
q 2 m m zm X N
2
¼ qðnþmÞ þnþm znþm
ðq; qÞN :m¼0 ðq; qÞ2m n¼N

2m 9
X
N
q 2 m2 m
z X
N
2
=
 qðnþmÞ znþm
m¼1
ðq; qÞ2m1 n¼N
;
XN 2
qm zm
¼ ðq; qÞN ðzq2 ; q2 ÞN ðz1 ; q2 ÞN
m¼0
ðq; qÞ2m
XN 2
qm m zm
 ðq; qÞN ðzq; q2 ÞN ðz1 q; q2 ÞN
m¼1
ðq; qÞ2m1
by ð6:3Þ: ð6:4Þ

Hence for any positive integer i

ð1Þi KN ðq2i Þ

XN
ð1Þm qm mþ2im
2

¼ ð1Þi ðq; qÞN ðq12i ; q2 ÞN ðq1þ2i ; q2 ÞN

m¼1
ðq; qÞ2m1
 2i 2þ4i

i2 2 q q
¼ q ðq; q ÞN  ? : ð6:5Þ
1  q ð1  qÞð1  q2 Þð1  q3 Þ

Now observing that i^1 and 0oqo14; we see that the infinite series is an
alternating series and is consequently greater than
 
q2i q2þ2i
1 40:
1q ð1  qÞð1  q3 Þ

Hence

ð1Þi KN ðq2i Þ40 for positive integers i: ð6:6Þ

 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407 405

We already know that zn lies in the open interval ðq12n ; q12n Þ: Furthermore,
we have just established that KN ðq12n Þ and KN ðq2n Þ are of opposite signs.
Hence, invoking Theorem 2.1 KN ðzÞ must have a zero in ðq2n ; q12n Þ; and zn is
the only candidate for this role. Thus, Theorem 6.1 is proved. &

Next we note that the zeros of each Kn ðzÞ are algebraic functions of the coefficients
of Kn ðzÞ which are in turn polynomials in q: Thus in turn the zeros of Kn ðzÞ are
analytic functions of q for 0oqo14 (the domain specified in Theorem 2.1). This is an
immediate corollary of the Implicit Function Theorem [10] whose hypotheses are
fulfilled here. Finally for n^N the Nth zero of Kn ðzÞ say zn;N forms a decreasing
sequence in n (by the interlacing theorem [3, p. 28]). Consequently zN;N ¼ zN is
analytic in q: So as defined in (3.7)

zn ¼ q2n on ðqÞ

and Theorem 6.1 tells us that 14on ðqÞ4q: Therefore we conclude that

X
N
zn ¼ q2n an;j q j :
j¼0

Hence KN ðzn Þ ¼ 0 means

!h
XN
qh þh2nh ð1Þh X
2 N
0¼ an;j q j
h¼0
ðq; qÞ h j¼0
!h
ð1Þn qn þn X X
2 N N
ðhnÞ2 hn j
¼ q ðqÞ an;j q ðqhþ1 ; qÞN
ðq; qÞN h¼N j¼0
 n
n n2 þn PN j !h
ð1Þ q j¼0 an;j q XN XN
h2 þh h j
¼ q ð1Þ an;j q ðqhþnþ1 ; qÞN :
ðq; qÞN h¼N j¼0

Therefore
!h
X
N X
N
h2 þh h j
0¼ q ð1Þ an;j q ðqhþnþ1 ; qÞN ð6:7Þ
h¼N j¼0

and the an;j are uniquely determined from (6.7) in the same way that the yi
were determined in Theorem 5.1; however this time we know in advance that
PN
the series j¼0 an;j q
j
converges in 0oqo14: The change over Theorem 5.1 is
that now (6.7) is valid as an analytic assertion for 0oqo14 as well as a formal
power series identity in q (again the derivation of (6.7) guarantees no negative
powers of q).
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
406 G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407

But the reduction of (5.2) to a formal power series in q by the replacement of z

by qn ; means that we must have the formal series identity
X
N X
N
an;j q j ¼ 1  yi qni : ð6:8Þ
j¼0 i¼1

Substituting (6.8) and (3.7) back into (3.6), we conclude that

Theorem 6.2. Identity (1.1) holds for all complex a and real q with 0oqo14:

7. Conclusion

The main thing we have learned from this effort is the remarkable formulas (1.2)–
(1.5) that provide the series expansions for the zeros zn of KN ðzÞ: For the record

z1 ¼ q2 ð1  q þ q2  2q3 þ 4q4  ?Þ;

z2 ¼ q4 ð1  q2 þ q3  2q4 þ 4q5  7q6 þ 11q7  18q8 þ 33q9  ?Þ;

z3 ¼  q6 ð1  q3 þ q4  2q5 þ 4q6  7q7 þ 11q8  17q9

þ 27q10  43q11 þ 68q12  112q13 þ 196q14  ?Þ;

z4 ¼  q8 ð1  q4 þ q5  2q6 þ 4q7  7q8 þ 11q9  17q10

þ 27q11  42q12 þ 62q13  91q14 þ 138q15

 213q16 þ 334q17  549q18 þ 957q19  ?Þ;

z5 ¼  q10 ð1  q5 þ q6  2q7 þ 4q8 þ 7q9 þ 11q10  17q11 ;

þ 27q12  42q13 þ 62q14  90q15 þ 132q16 ;

 192q17 þ 275q18  398q19 þ 591q20  ?Þ;

 900q21 þ 1417q22  2327q23 þ 3971q24  ?Þ:

This interaction of the classical analytic theory of orthogonal polynomials and the
Rogers–Ramanujan identities was a huge surprise to me even though I was well
aware of Szego+’s paper [8].
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
G.E. Andrews / Advances in Mathematics 191 (2005) 393–407 407

It remains to be seen if this state of affairs applies to other famous q-series with as
striking consequences as (1.1).

References

[1] G.E. Andrews. The theory of partitions, in: G.-C. Rota (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Mathematics and its
Applications, Vol. 2, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1976 (reissued: Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1998).
[2] G.E. Andrews, D.M. Jackson, T. Visentin, A hypergeometric analysis of the genus series for a class of
2-cell embeddings in oriental surfaces, SIAM J. Math. Anal. 25 (1994) 243–255.
[3] T.S. Chihara, An Introduction to Orthogonal Polynomials, Gordon and Breach, New York, 1974.
[4] E.T. Copson, An Introduction to the Theory of Functions of a Complex Variable, Oxford University
Press, Oxford, 1935.
[5] G.H. Hardy, E.M. Wright, An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers, 5th Edition, Oxford
University Press, Oxford, 1979.
[6] S. Ramanujan, The Lost Notebook and Other Unpublished Papers (Intro by G.E. Andrews), Narosa,
New Delhi, 1988.
[7] T.J. Stieltjes, Recherches sur les fractions continues, Ann. de la Faculté des Sci. de Toulouse 8 (1894)
122 9 (1895) 47(Oeuvres Complétes, Vol. 2, pp. 402–566).
[8] G. Szego+, Ein Beitrag zur Theorie der Thetafunktionen, Sitsungsberichte der Preussischen Akad. der
Wissenschaften, Phys.-Math., 1926, pp. 242–252 (Coll. Paper, Vol. 2, 795–805).
[9] G. Szego+, Orthogonal Polynomials, American Mathematical Society Colloquial Publication, Vol. 23,
American Mathematical Society, Colloquial Publication, Providence, RI, 1967.
[10] W. Walter, A useful Banach algebra, El. Math. 47 (1992) 27–32.
[11] E.T. Whittaker, G.N. Watson, A Course of Modern Analysis, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1935.
[12] S. Wigert, Sur les polynomer orthogonaux et l’approximation des fonctions continues, Ark. Mat.,
Astron. Fys. 15 (25) (1921) 22.