Explicit transformations for generalized Lambert series associated with the divisor function $\sigma_{a}^{(N)}(n)$ and their applications

Abstract

Let $\sigma_a^{(N)}(n)=\sum_{d^{N}|n}d^a$. An explicit transformation is obtained for the generalized Lambert series $\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\sigma_{a}^{(N)}(n)e^{-ny}$ for Re$(a)>-1$ using the recently established Vorono\"i summation formula for $\sigma_a^{(N)}(n)$, and is extended to a wider region by analytic continuation. For $N=1$, this Lambert series plays an important role in string theory scattering amplitudes as can be seen in the recent work of Dorigoni and Kleinschmidt. These transformations exhibit several identities - a new generalization of Ramanujan's formula for $\zeta(2m+1)$, an identity associated with extended higher Herglotz functions, generalized Dedekind eta-transformation, Wigert's transformation etc., all of which are derived in this paper, thus leading to their uniform proofs. A special case of one of these explicit transformations naturally leads us to consider generalized power partitions with ``$n^{2N-1}$ copies of $n^{N}$''. Asymptotic expansion of their generating function as $q\to1^{-}$ is also derived which generalizes Wright's result on the plane partition generating function. In order to obtain these transformations, several new intermediate results are required, for example, a new reduction formula for Meijer $G$-function and an almost closed-form evaluation of $\left.\frac{\partial E_{2N, \beta}(z^{2N})}{\partial\beta}\right|_{\beta=1}$, where $E_{\alpha, \beta}(z)$ is a two-variable Mittag-Leffler function.