A-SIMPLE-PROOF-OF-BAILEY’S-VERY-WELL-POISED-SUMMATION.pdfVIP

A SIMPLE PROOF OF BAILEY’S VERY-WELL-POISED 6 6 SUMMATION MICHAEL SCHLOSSER Abstract. We give elementary derivations of some classical summation for- mulae for bilateral (basic) hypergeometric series. In particular, we apply Gauß’ 2F1 summation and elementary series manipulations to give a simple proof of Dougall’s 2H2 summation. Similarly, we apply Rogers’ nonterminating 6φ5 summation and elementary series manipulations to give a simple proof of Bai- ley’s very-well-poised 6 6 summation. Our method of proof extends M. Jack- son’s first elementary proof of Ramanujan’s 1 1 summation. 1. Introduction The theories of unilateral (or one-sided) hypergeometric and basic (q-)hyper- geometric series have quite a rich history dating back to at least Euler. Formu- lae for bilateral (basic) hypergeometric series were not discovered until 1907 when Dougall [10], using residue calculus, derived summations for the bilateral 2H2 and very-well-poised 5H5 series. Ramanujan [15] extended the q-binomial theorem by finding a summation formula for the bilateral 1 1 series. Later, Bailey [6],[7] car- ried out systematical investigations of summations and transformations for bilat- eral basic hypergeometric series. Further significant contributions were made by Slater [25],[26], a student of Bailey. See [11] and [26] for an excellent survey of the above classical material. Bailey’s [6, Eq. (4.7)] very-well-poised 6 6 summation (cf. [11, Eq. (5.3.1)]) is a very powerful identity, as it stands at the top of the classical hierarchy of summation formulae for bilateral series. Some of the applications of the 6