In mathematics, particularly q-analog theory, the Ramanujan theta function generalizes the form of the Jacobi theta functions, while capturing their general properties. In particular, the Jacobi triple product takes on a particularly elegant form when written in terms of the Ramanujan theta. The function is named after mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
The Ramanujan theta function is defined as
for |ab| < 1. The Jacobi triple product identity then takes the form
Here, the expression 
denotes the q-Pochhammer symbol. Identities that follow from this include
and
and
This last being the Euler function, which is closely related to the Dedekind eta function. The Jacobi theta function may be written in terms of the Ramanujan theta function as:
We have the following integral representation for the full two-parameter form of Ramanujan's theta function:[1]
![{\displaystyle f(a,b)=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {2ae^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {1-a{\sqrt {ab}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log ab}}\,t\right)}{a^{3}b-2a{\sqrt {ab}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log ab}}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {2be^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {1-b{\sqrt {ab}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log ab}}\,t\right)}{ab^{3}-2b{\sqrt {ab}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log ab}}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt}](//wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/d833a850026ea49ed8e8cc14e0c5c319ff52dace)
The special cases of Ramanujan's theta functions given by φ(q) := f(q, q) OEIS: A000122 and ψ(q) := f(q, q3) OEIS: A010054 [2] also have the following integral representations:[1]
![{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\varphi (q)&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4q\left(1-q^{2}\cosh \left({\sqrt {2\log q}}\,t\right)\right)}{q^{4}-2q^{2}\cosh \left({\sqrt {2\log q}}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\\[6pt]\psi (q)&=\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {2e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {1-{\sqrt {q}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log q}}\,t\right)}{q-2{\sqrt {q}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log q}}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\end{aligned}}}](//wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/7d958638c9c5c21543a41751082961c3959ca16b)
This leads to several special case integrals for constants defined by these functions when q := e−kπ (cf. theta function explicit values). In particular, we have that [1]
![{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\varphi \left(e^{-k\pi }\right)&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4e^{k\pi }\left(e^{2k\pi }-\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi k}}\,t\right)\right)}{e^{4k\pi }-2e^{2k\pi }\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi k}}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4e^{\pi }\left(e^{2\pi }-\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi }}\,t\right)\right)}{e^{4\pi }-2e^{2\pi }\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi }}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {\sqrt {2+{\sqrt {2}}}}{2}}&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4e^{2\pi }\left(e^{4\pi }-\cos \left(2{\sqrt {\pi }}\,t\right)\right)}{e^{8\pi }-2e^{4\pi }\cos \left(2{\sqrt {\pi }}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {\sqrt {1+{\sqrt {3}}}}{2^{\frac {1}{4}}3^{\frac {3}{8}}}}&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4e^{3\pi }\left(e^{6\pi }-\cos \left({\sqrt {6\pi }}\,t\right)\right)}{e^{12\pi }-2e^{6\pi }\cos \left({\sqrt {6\pi }}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {\sqrt {5+2{\sqrt {5}}}}{5^{\frac {3}{4}}}}&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4e^{5\pi }\left(e^{10\pi }-\cos \left({\sqrt {10\pi }}\,t\right)\right)}{e^{20\pi }-2e^{10\pi }\cos \left({\sqrt {10\pi }}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\end{aligned}}}](//wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/c3031f986c5ca7b5f2e2295b80296f8011cec02b)
and that
![{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\psi \left(e^{-k\pi }\right)&=\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {\cos \left({\sqrt {k\pi }}\,t\right)-e^{\frac {k\pi }{2}}}{\cos \left({\sqrt {k\pi }}\,t\right)-\cosh {\frac {k\pi }{2}}}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {e^{\frac {\pi }{8}}}{2^{\frac {5}{8}}}}&=\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {\cos \left({\sqrt {\pi }}\,t\right)-e^{\frac {\pi }{2}}}{\cos \left({\sqrt {\pi }}\,t\right)-\cosh {\frac {\pi }{2}}}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {e^{\frac {\pi }{4}}}{2^{\frac {5}{4}}}}&=\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi }}\,t\right)-e^{\pi }}{\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi }}\,t\right)-\cosh \pi }}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {{\sqrt[{4}]{1+{\sqrt {2}}}}\,e^{\frac {\pi }{16}}}{2^{\frac {7}{16}}}}&=\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {\cos \left({\sqrt {\frac {\pi }{2}}}\,t\right)-e^{\frac {\pi }{4}}}{\cos \left({\sqrt {\frac {\pi }{2}}}\,t\right)-\cosh {\frac {\pi }{4}}}}\right]dt\end{aligned}}}](//wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/37ae89a40223719a2eb7a92b180785ac7bbe090d)
The Ramanujan theta function is used to determine the critical dimensions in bosonic string theory, superstring theory and M-theory.
![{\displaystyle f(a,b)=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {2ae^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {1-a{\sqrt {ab}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log ab}}\,t\right)}{a^{3}b-2a{\sqrt {ab}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log ab}}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {2be^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {1-b{\sqrt {ab}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log ab}}\,t\right)}{ab^{3}-2b{\sqrt {ab}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log ab}}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt}](http://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/d833a850026ea49ed8e8cc14e0c5c319ff52dace)
![{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\varphi (q)&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4q\left(1-q^{2}\cosh \left({\sqrt {2\log q}}\,t\right)\right)}{q^{4}-2q^{2}\cosh \left({\sqrt {2\log q}}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\\[6pt]\psi (q)&=\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {2e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {1-{\sqrt {q}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log q}}\,t\right)}{q-2{\sqrt {q}}\cosh \left({\sqrt {\log q}}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\end{aligned}}}](http://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/7d958638c9c5c21543a41751082961c3959ca16b)
![{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\varphi \left(e^{-k\pi }\right)&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4e^{k\pi }\left(e^{2k\pi }-\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi k}}\,t\right)\right)}{e^{4k\pi }-2e^{2k\pi }\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi k}}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4e^{\pi }\left(e^{2\pi }-\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi }}\,t\right)\right)}{e^{4\pi }-2e^{2\pi }\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi }}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {\sqrt {2+{\sqrt {2}}}}{2}}&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4e^{2\pi }\left(e^{4\pi }-\cos \left(2{\sqrt {\pi }}\,t\right)\right)}{e^{8\pi }-2e^{4\pi }\cos \left(2{\sqrt {\pi }}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {\sqrt {1+{\sqrt {3}}}}{2^{\frac {1}{4}}3^{\frac {3}{8}}}}&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4e^{3\pi }\left(e^{6\pi }-\cos \left({\sqrt {6\pi }}\,t\right)\right)}{e^{12\pi }-2e^{6\pi }\cos \left({\sqrt {6\pi }}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {\sqrt {5+2{\sqrt {5}}}}{5^{\frac {3}{4}}}}&=1+\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {4e^{5\pi }\left(e^{10\pi }-\cos \left({\sqrt {10\pi }}\,t\right)\right)}{e^{20\pi }-2e^{10\pi }\cos \left({\sqrt {10\pi }}\,t\right)+1}}\right]dt\end{aligned}}}](http://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/c3031f986c5ca7b5f2e2295b80296f8011cec02b)
![{\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\psi \left(e^{-k\pi }\right)&=\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {\cos \left({\sqrt {k\pi }}\,t\right)-e^{\frac {k\pi }{2}}}{\cos \left({\sqrt {k\pi }}\,t\right)-\cosh {\frac {k\pi }{2}}}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {e^{\frac {\pi }{8}}}{2^{\frac {5}{8}}}}&=\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {\cos \left({\sqrt {\pi }}\,t\right)-e^{\frac {\pi }{2}}}{\cos \left({\sqrt {\pi }}\,t\right)-\cosh {\frac {\pi }{2}}}}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {e^{\frac {\pi }{4}}}{2^{\frac {5}{4}}}}&=\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi }}\,t\right)-e^{\pi }}{\cos \left({\sqrt {2\pi }}\,t\right)-\cosh \pi }}\right]dt\\[6pt]{\frac {\pi ^{\frac {1}{4}}}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}\cdot {\frac {{\sqrt[{4}]{1+{\sqrt {2}}}}\,e^{\frac {\pi }{16}}}{2^{\frac {7}{16}}}}&=\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {e^{-{\frac {1}{2}}t^{2}}}{\sqrt {2\pi }}}\left[{\frac {\cos \left({\sqrt {\frac {\pi }{2}}}\,t\right)-e^{\frac {\pi }{4}}}{\cos \left({\sqrt {\frac {\pi }{2}}}\,t\right)-\cosh {\frac {\pi }{4}}}}\right]dt\end{aligned}}}](http://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/37ae89a40223719a2eb7a92b180785ac7bbe090d)
