q-series Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
A q-series is a series in a parameter , treated either as a formal power series or as an analytic series, often for . Its coefficients can encode a sequence, while identities involving infinite products record choices of parts in integer partitions.
For example,
where counts integer partitions of . Expanding each factor as a geometric series chooses the number of parts of size . Formally, each coefficient uses only finitely many factors. This product is a basic link between combinatorics, number theory, and modular forms.