Theta function

For other θ functions, see Theta function (disambiguation).

In mathematics, theta functions are special functions of several complex variables. They show up in many topics, including Abelian varieties, moduli spaces, quadratic forms, and solitons. As Grassmann algebras, they appear in quantum field theory.^[1]

Jacobi's theta function θ₁ with nome q = e^iπτ = 0.1e^0.1iπ: ${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\theta _{1}(z,q)&=2q^{\frac {1}{4}}\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }(-1)^{n}q^{n(n+1)}\sin(2n+1)z\\&=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }(-1)^{n-{\frac {1}{2}}}q^{\left(n+{\frac {1}{2}}\right)^{2}}e^{(2n+1)iz}.\end{aligned}}}$

The most common form of theta function is that occurring in the theory of elliptic functions. With respect to one of the complex variables (conventionally called z), a theta function has a property expressing its behavior with respect to the addition of a period of the associated elliptic functions, making it a quasiperiodic function. In the abstract theory this quasiperiodicity comes from the cohomology class of a line bundle on a complex torus, a condition of descent.

One interpretation of theta functions when dealing with the heat equation is that "a theta function is a special function that describes the evolution of temperature on a segment domain subject to certain boundary conditions".^[2]

Throughout this article, ${\displaystyle (e^{\pi i\tau })^{\alpha }}$ should be interpreted as ${\displaystyle e^{\alpha \pi i\tau }}$ (in order to resolve issues of choice of branch).^{[note 1]}

Jacobi theta function

There are several closely related functions called Jacobi theta functions, and many different and incompatible systems of notation for them. One Jacobi theta function (named after Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi) is a function defined for two complex variables z and τ, where z can be any complex number and τ is the half-period ratio, confined to the upper half-plane, which means it has positive imaginary part. It is given by the formula

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\vartheta (z;\tau )&=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }\exp \left(\pi in^{2}\tau +2\pi inz\right)\\&=1+2\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }q^{n^{2}}\cos(2\pi nz)\\&=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }q^{n^{2}}\eta ^{n}\end{aligned}}}$ 

where q = exp(πiτ) is the nome and η = exp(2πiz). It is a Jacobi form. The restriction ensures that it is an absolutely convergent series. At fixed τ, this is a Fourier series for a 1-periodic entire function of z. Accordingly, the theta function is 1-periodic in z:

${\displaystyle \vartheta (z+1;\tau )=\vartheta (z;\tau ).}$ 

By completing the square, it is also τ-quasiperiodic in z, with

${\displaystyle \vartheta (z+\tau ;\tau )=\exp {\bigl (}-\pi i(\tau +2z){\bigr )}\vartheta (z;\tau ).}$ 

Thus, in general,

${\displaystyle \vartheta (z+a+b\tau ;\tau )=\exp \left(-\pi ib^{2}\tau -2\pi ibz\right)\vartheta (z;\tau )}$ 

for any integers a and b.

For any fixed ${\displaystyle \tau }$ , the function is an entire function on the complex plane, so by Liouville's theorem, it cannot be doubly periodic in ${\displaystyle 1,\tau }$  unless it is constant, and so the best we could do is to make it periodic in ${\displaystyle 1}$  and quasi-periodic in ${\displaystyle \tau }$ . Indeed, since

$${\displaystyle \left|{\frac {\vartheta (z+a+b\tau ;\tau )}{\vartheta (z;\tau )}}\right|=\exp \left(\pi (b^{2}\Im (\tau )+2b\Im (z))\right)}$$

 

and ${\displaystyle \Im (\tau )>0}$ , the function ${\displaystyle \vartheta (z,\tau )}$  is unbounded, as required by Liouville's theorem.

It is in fact the most general entire function with 2 quasi-periods, in the following sense:^[3]

Theorem — If ${\displaystyle f:\mathbb {C} \to \mathbb {C} }$  is entire and nonconstant, and satisfies the functional equations ${\displaystyle {\begin{cases}f(z+1)=f(z)\\f(z+\tau )=e^{az+2\pi ib}f(z)\end{cases}}}$  for some constant ${\displaystyle a,b\in \mathbb {C} }$ .

If ${\displaystyle a=0}$ , then ${\displaystyle b=\tau }$  and ${\displaystyle f(z)=e^{2\pi iz}}$ . If ${\displaystyle a=-2\pi i}$ , then ${\displaystyle f(z)=C\vartheta (z+{\frac {1}{2}}\tau +b,\tau )}$  for some nonzero ${\displaystyle C\in \mathbb {C} }$ .

 

Theta function θ₁ with different nome q = e^iπτ. The black dot in the right-hand picture indicates how q changes with τ.

 

Theta function θ₁ with different nome q = e^iπτ. The black dot in the right-hand picture indicates how q changes with τ.

Auxiliary functions

The Jacobi theta function defined above is sometimes considered along with three auxiliary theta functions, in which case it is written with a double 0 subscript:

${\displaystyle \vartheta _{00}(z;\tau )=\vartheta (z;\tau )}$ 

The auxiliary (or half-period) functions are defined by

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\vartheta _{01}(z;\tau )&=\vartheta \left(z+{\tfrac {1}{2}};\tau \right)\\[3pt]\vartheta _{10}(z;\tau )&=\exp \left({\tfrac {1}{4}}\pi i\tau +\pi iz\right)\vartheta \left(z+{\tfrac {1}{2}}\tau ;\tau \right)\\[3pt]\vartheta _{11}(z;\tau )&=\exp \left({\tfrac {1}{4}}\pi i\tau +\pi i\left(z+{\tfrac {1}{2}}\right)\right)\vartheta \left(z+{\tfrac {1}{2}}\tau +{\tfrac {1}{2}};\tau \right).\end{aligned}}}$ 

This notation follows Riemann and Mumford; Jacobi's original formulation was in terms of the nome q = e^iπτ rather than τ. In Jacobi's notation the θ-functions are written:

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\theta _{1}(z;q)&=\theta _{1}(\pi z,q)=-\vartheta _{11}(z;\tau )\\\theta _{2}(z;q)&=\theta _{2}(\pi z,q)=\vartheta _{10}(z;\tau )\\\theta _{3}(z;q)&=\theta _{3}(\pi z,q)=\vartheta _{00}(z;\tau )\\\theta _{4}(z;q)&=\theta _{4}(\pi z,q)=\vartheta _{01}(z;\tau )\end{aligned}}}$ 

 

Jacobi theta 1

 

Jacobi theta 2

 

Jacobi theta 3

 

Jacobi theta 4

The above definitions of the Jacobi theta functions are by no means unique. See Jacobi theta functions (notational variations) for further discussion.

If we set z = 0 in the above theta functions, we obtain four functions of τ only, defined on the upper half-plane. These functions are called Theta Nullwert functions, based on the German term for zero value because of the annullation of the left entry in the theta function expression. Alternatively, we obtain four functions of q only, defined on the unit disk ${\displaystyle |q|<1}$ . They are sometimes called theta constants:^{[note 2]}

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\vartheta _{11}(0;\tau )&=-\theta _{1}(q)=-\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }(-1)^{n-1/2}q^{(n+1/2)^{2}}\\\vartheta _{10}(0;\tau )&=\theta _{2}(q)=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }q^{(n+1/2)^{2}}\\\vartheta _{00}(0;\tau )&=\theta _{3}(q)=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }q^{n^{2}}\\\vartheta _{01}(0;\tau )&=\theta _{4}(q)=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }(-1)^{n}q^{n^{2}}\end{aligned}}}$ 

with the nome q = e^iπτ. Observe that ${\displaystyle \theta _{1}(q)=0}$ . These can be used to define a variety of modular forms, and to parametrize certain curves; in particular, the Jacobi identity is

${\displaystyle \theta _{2}(q)^{4}+\theta _{4}(q)^{4}=\theta _{3}(q)^{4}}$ 

or equivalently,

${\displaystyle \vartheta _{01}(0;\tau )^{4}+\vartheta _{10}(0;\tau )^{4}=\vartheta _{00}(0;\tau )^{4}}$ 

which is the Fermat curve of degree four.

Elliptic nome

Definition and identities to the theta functions

Since the Jacobi functions are defined in terms of the elliptic modulus ${\displaystyle k(\tau )}$ , we need to invert this and find ${\displaystyle \tau }$  in terms of ${\displaystyle k}$ . We start from ${\displaystyle k'={\sqrt {1-k^{2}}}}$ , the complementary modulus. As a function of ${\displaystyle \tau }$  it is

${\displaystyle k'(\tau )={\sqrt {1-k^{2}}}={\biggl \{}{\theta _{4}[q(k)] \over \theta _{3}[q(k)]}{\biggr \}}^{2}}$ 

Let us define the elliptic nome and the complete elliptic integral of the first kind:

${\displaystyle q(k)=\exp {\biggl [}-\pi \,{\frac {K({\sqrt {1-k^{2}}})}{K(k)}}{\biggr ]}=\exp {\biggl [}-\pi \,{\frac {K'(k)}{K(k)}}{\biggr ]}}$ 

These identites^[4][5] exist between the elliptic integral K, the modulus k, the nome q function and the theta functions:

${\displaystyle \theta _{3}[q(k)]={\sqrt {2\pi ^{-1}K(k)}}}$ 

${\displaystyle \theta _{4}[q(k)]={\sqrt[{4}]{1-k^{2}}}\,{\sqrt {2\pi ^{-1}K(k)}}}$ 

${\displaystyle \theta _{2}[q(k)]=|k|^{1/2}{\sqrt {2\pi ^{-1}K(k)}}}$ 

These are two identical definitions of the complete elliptic integral of the first kind:

${\displaystyle K(k)=\int _{0}^{\pi /2}{\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-k^{2}\sin(\varphi )^{2}}}}\partial \varphi }$ 

${\displaystyle K(k)={\frac {\pi }{2}}\sum _{a=0}^{\infty }{\frac {[(2a)!]^{2}}{16^{a}(a!)^{4}}}k^{2a}}$ 

An identical definition of the nome function can be produced by using a series. Following function has this identity:

${\displaystyle {\frac {1-{\sqrt[{4}]{1-k^{2}}}}{1+{\sqrt[{4}]{1-k^{2}}}}}={\frac {\theta _{3}[q(k)]-\theta _{4}[q(k)]}{\theta _{3}[q(k)]+\theta _{4}[q(k)]}}={\biggl [}\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }2\,q(k)^{(2n-1)^{2}}{\biggr ]}{\biggl [}1+\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }2\,q(k)^{4n^{2}}{\biggr ]}^{-1}}$ 

By solving this function after q we get this^[6][7][8] result:

${\displaystyle q(k)=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {{\text{Sc}}(n)}{2^{4n-3}}}{\biggl (}{\frac {1-{\sqrt[{4}]{1-k^{2}}}}{1+{\sqrt[{4}]{1-k^{2}}}}}{\biggr )}^{4n-3}={\biggl [}\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {{\text{Sc}}(n)}{2^{4n-3}}}{\biggl (}{\frac {k}{1+{\sqrt {1-k^{2}}}}}{\biggr )}^{4n-3}{\biggr ]}^{2}=k^{2}{\biggl \{}{\frac {1}{2}}+{\biggl [}\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {{\text{Sc}}(n+1)}{2^{4n+1}}}k^{2n}{\biggr ]}{\biggr \}}^{4}}$ 

${\displaystyle q(k)=k^{2}{\bigl (}{\color {limegreen}{\frac {\color {navy}1}{2}}+{\frac {\color {navy}2}{32}}k^{2}+{\frac {\color {navy}15}{512}}k^{4}+{\frac {\color {navy}150}{8192}}k^{6}+{\frac {\color {navy}1707}{131072}}k^{8}+\ldots }{\bigr )}^{4}}$ 

Karl Heinrich Schellbach wrote his derivation of this number sequence in his work Die Lehre von den elliptischen Integralen und den Thetafunktionen on page 60 down. He figured these coefficients of the fourth root of the elliptic nome out by doing substitution calculations.

The Schellbach Schwarz numbers are in the numerators and the doubles of the powers of sixteen are in the denominators.

In relation to this following limits are valid:

${\displaystyle \lim _{n\to \infty }{\sqrt[{n}]{\text{Sc(n)}}}=16}$ 

${\displaystyle \lim _{n\to \infty }{\frac {\text{Sc(n + 1)}}{\text{Sc(n)}}}=16}$ 

This table^[9][10] shows numbers of the Schellbach Schwarz integer sequence A002103 accurately:

Sc(1)	Sc(2)	Sc(3)	Sc(4)	Sc(5)	Sc(6)	Sc(7)	Sc(8)
1	2	15	150	1707	20910	268616	3567400

Elliptic integer sequences

The Silesian German mathematician Hermann Amandus Schwarz wrote in his work Formeln und Lehrsätze zum Gebrauche der elliptischen Funktionen in the chapter Berechnung der Grösse k on pages 54 to 56 the described integer number sequence that was researched by Karl Heinrich Schellbach too. Furthermore, his Schellbach Schwarz number sequence Sc(n) was analyzed by the mathematicians Karl Theodor Wilhelm Weierstrass and Louis Melville Milne-Thomson in the 20th century. The mathematician Adolf Kneser determined a synthesis method for this sequence based on the following pattern:

${\displaystyle {\text{Sc}}(n+1)={\frac {2}{n}}\sum _{m=1}^{n}{\text{Sc}}(m){\text{Kn}}(n+1-m)}$ 

The mathematician Karl Heinrich Schellbach also researched this integer sequence relation and in his work Die Lehre von den elliptischen Integralen und den Thetafunktionen^[11] he dealt with it in detail. The Schellbach Schwarz sequence Sc(n) is entered in the online encyclopedia of number sequences under the number A002103 and the Kneser sequence Kn(n) is entered under the number A227503. The Kneser integer sequence Kn(n) can be constructed in this way:

${\displaystyle {\text{Kn}}(2n)=2^{4n-3}{\binom {4n}{2n}}+\sum _{m=1}^{n}4^{2n-2m}{\binom {4n}{2n-2m}}{\text{Kn}}(m)}$

${\displaystyle {\text{Kn}}(2n+1)=2^{4n-1}{\binom {4n+2}{2n+1}}+\sum _{m=1}^{n}4^{2n-2m+1}{\binom {4n+2}{2n-2m+1}}{\text{Kn}}(m)}$

Executed examples:

${\displaystyle {\text{Kn}}(2)=2\times 6+1\times {\color {cornflowerblue}1}={\color {cornflowerblue}13}}$

${\displaystyle {\text{Kn}}(3)=8\times 20+24\times {\color {cornflowerblue}1}={\color {cornflowerblue}184}}$

${\displaystyle {\text{Kn}}(4)=32\times 70+448\times {\color {cornflowerblue}1}+1\times {\color {cornflowerblue}13}={\color {cornflowerblue}2701}}$

${\displaystyle {\text{Kn}}(5)=128\times 252+7680\times {\color {cornflowerblue}1}+40\times {\color {cornflowerblue}13}={\color {cornflowerblue}40456}}$

${\displaystyle {\text{Kn}}(6)=512\times 924+126720\times {\color {cornflowerblue}1}+1056\times {\color {cornflowerblue}13}+1\times {\color {cornflowerblue}184}={\color {cornflowerblue}613720}}$

${\displaystyle {\text{Kn}}(7)=2048\times 3432+2050048\times {\color {cornflowerblue}1}+23296\times {\color {cornflowerblue}13}+56\times {\color {cornflowerblue}184}={\color {cornflowerblue}9391936}}$

The Kneser sequence appears in the Taylor series of the period ratio (half period ratio):

${\displaystyle {\frac {1}{4}}\ln {\bigl (}{\frac {16}{x^{2}}}{\bigr )}-{\frac {\pi \,K'(x)}{4\,K(x)}}=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {{\text{Kn}}(n)}{2^{4n-1}n}}\,x^{2n}}$ 

${\displaystyle {\color {limegreen}{\frac {1}{4}}\ln {\bigl (}{\frac {16}{x^{2}}}{\bigr )}-{\frac {\pi \,K'(x)}{4\,K(x)}}={\frac {\color {cornflowerblue}1}{8}}x^{2}+{\frac {\color {cornflowerblue}13}{256}}x^{4}+{\frac {\color {cornflowerblue}184}{6144}}x^{6}+{\frac {\color {cornflowerblue}2701}{131072}}x^{8}+{\frac {\color {cornflowerblue}40456}{2621440}}x^{10}+\ldots }}$ 

The derivative of this equation after ${\displaystyle x}$  leads to this equation that shows the generating function of the Kneser number sequence:

${\displaystyle {\frac {\pi ^{2}}{8x(1-x^{2})K(x)^{2}}}-{\frac {1}{2x}}=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {{\text{Kn}}(n)}{2^{4n-2}}}x^{2n-1}}$ 

${\displaystyle {\color {limegreen}{\frac {\pi ^{2}}{8x(1-x^{2})K(x)^{2}}}-{\frac {1}{2x}}={\frac {\color {cornflowerblue}1}{4}}x+{\frac {\color {cornflowerblue}13}{64}}x^{3}+{\frac {\color {cornflowerblue}184}{1024}}x^{5}+{\frac {\color {cornflowerblue}2701}{16384}}x^{7}+{\frac {\color {cornflowerblue}40456}{262144}}x^{9}+\ldots }}$ 

This result appears because of the Legendre's relation ${\displaystyle K\,E'+E\,K'-K\,K'={\tfrac {1}{2}}\pi }$  in the numerator.

Following table contains the Schellbach Schwarz numbers and the Kneser numbers and the Apery numbers:

Constructed sequences Kneser and Schellbach Schwarz

Index n	Kn(n) (A227503)	Sc(n) (A002103)
1	1	1
2	13	2
3	184	15
4	2701	150
5	40456	1707
6	613720	20910
7	9391936	268616
8	144644749	3567400

This is the mentioned pattern formula for the Schellbach Schwarz number sequence:

${\displaystyle {\text{Sc}}(n+1)={\frac {2}{n}}\sum _{m=1}^{n}{\text{Sc}}(m){\text{Kn}}(n+1-m)}$ 

In the following, it will be shown as an example how the Schellbach Schwarz numbers are built up successively. For this, the examples with the numbers Sc(4) = 150, Sc(5) = 1707 and Sc(6) = 20910 are used:

${\displaystyle \mathrm {Sc} (4)={\frac {2}{3}}\sum _{m=1}^{3}\mathrm {Sc} (m)\,\mathrm {Kn} (4-m)={\frac {2}{3}}{\bigl [}{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (1)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (3)}+{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (2)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (2)}+{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (3)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (1)}{\bigr ]}}$ 

${\displaystyle {\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (4)}={\frac {2}{3}}{\bigl (}{\color {navy}1}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}184}+{\color {navy}2}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}13}+{\color {navy}15}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}1}{\bigr )}={\color {navy}150}}$ 

${\displaystyle \mathrm {Sc} (5)={\frac {2}{4}}\sum _{m=1}^{4}\mathrm {Sc} (m)\,\mathrm {Kn} (5-m)={\frac {2}{4}}{\bigl [}{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (1)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (4)}+{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (2)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (3)}+{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (3)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (2)}+{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (4)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (1)}{\bigr ]}}$ 

${\displaystyle {\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (5)}={\frac {2}{4}}{\bigl (}{\color {navy}1}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}2701}+{\color {navy}2}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}184}+{\color {navy}15}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}13}+{\color {navy}150}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}1}{\bigr )}={\color {navy}1707}}$ 

${\displaystyle \mathrm {Sc} (6)={\frac {2}{5}}\sum _{m=1}^{5}\mathrm {Sc} (m)\,\mathrm {Kn} (6-m)={\frac {2}{5}}{\bigl [}{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (1)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (5)}+{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (2)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (4)}+{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (3)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (3)}+{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (4)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (2)}+{\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (5)}\,{\color {cornflowerblue}\mathrm {Kn} (1)}{\bigr ]}}$ 

${\displaystyle {\color {navy}\mathrm {Sc} (6)}={\frac {2}{5}}{\bigl (}{\color {navy}1}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}40456}+{\color {navy}2}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}2701}+{\color {navy}15}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}184}+{\color {navy}150}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}13}+{\color {navy}1707}\times {\color {cornflowerblue}1}{\bigr )}={\color {navy}20910}}$ 

Jacobi identities

Jacobi's identities describe how theta functions transform under the modular group, which is generated by τ ↦ τ + 1 and τ ↦ −1/τ. Equations for the first transform are easily found since adding one to τ in the exponent has the same effect as adding 1/2 to z (n ≡ n² mod 2). For the second, let

${\displaystyle \alpha =(-i\tau )^{\frac {1}{2}}\exp \left({\frac {\pi }{\tau }}iz^{2}\right).}$ 

Then

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\vartheta _{00}\!\left({\frac {z}{\tau }};{\frac {-1}{\tau }}\right)&=\alpha \,\vartheta _{00}(z;\tau )\quad &\vartheta _{01}\!\left({\frac {z}{\tau }};{\frac {-1}{\tau }}\right)&=\alpha \,\vartheta _{10}(z;\tau )\\[3pt]\vartheta _{10}\!\left({\frac {z}{\tau }};{\frac {-1}{\tau }}\right)&=\alpha \,\vartheta _{01}(z;\tau )\quad &\vartheta _{11}\!\left({\frac {z}{\tau }};{\frac {-1}{\tau }}\right)&=-i\alpha \,\vartheta _{11}(z;\tau ).\end{aligned}}}$ 

Theta functions in terms of the nome

Instead of expressing the Theta functions in terms of z and τ, we may express them in terms of arguments w and the nome q, where w = e^πiz and q = e^πiτ. In this form, the functions become

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\vartheta _{00}(w,q)&=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }\left(w^{2}\right)^{n}q^{n^{2}}\quad &\vartheta _{01}(w,q)&=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }(-1)^{n}\left(w^{2}\right)^{n}q^{n^{2}}\\[3pt]\vartheta _{10}(w,q)&=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }\left(w^{2}\right)^{n+{\frac {1}{2}}}q^{\left(n+{\frac {1}{2}}\right)^{2}}\quad &\vartheta _{11}(w,q)&=i\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }(-1)^{n}\left(w^{2}\right)^{n+{\frac {1}{2}}}q^{\left(n+{\frac {1}{2}}\right)^{2}}.\end{aligned}}}$ 

We see that the theta functions can also be defined in terms of w and q, without a direct reference to the exponential function. These formulas can, therefore, be used to define the Theta functions over other fields where the exponential function might not be everywhere defined, such as fields of p-adic numbers.

Product representations

The Jacobi triple product (a special case of the Macdonald identities) tells us that for complex numbers w and q with |q| < 1 and w ≠ 0 we have

${\displaystyle \prod _{m=1}^{\infty }\left(1-q^{2m}\right)\left(1+w^{2}q^{2m-1}\right)\left(1+w^{-2}q^{2m-1}\right)=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }w^{2n}q^{n^{2}}.}$ 

It can be proven by elementary means, as for instance in Hardy and Wright's An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers.

If we express the theta function in terms of the nome q = e^πiτ (noting some authors instead set q = e^2πiτ) and take w = e^πiz then

${\displaystyle \vartheta (z;\tau )=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }\exp(\pi i\tau n^{2})\exp(2\pi izn)=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }w^{2n}q^{n^{2}}.}$ 

We therefore obtain a product formula for the theta function in the form

${\displaystyle \vartheta (z;\tau )=\prod _{m=1}^{\infty }{\big (}1-\exp(2m\pi i\tau ){\big )}{\Big (}1+\exp {\big (}(2m-1)\pi i\tau +2\pi iz{\big )}{\Big )}{\Big (}1+\exp {\big (}(2m-1)\pi i\tau -2\pi iz{\big )}{\Big )}.}$ 

In terms of w and q:

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\vartheta (z;\tau )&=\prod _{m=1}^{\infty }\left(1-q^{2m}\right)\left(1+q^{2m-1}w^{2}\right)\left(1+{\frac {q^{2m-1}}{w^{2}}}\right)\\&=\left(q^{2};q^{2}\right)_{\infty }\,\left(-w^{2}q;q^{2}\right)_{\infty }\,\left(-{\frac {q}{w^{2}}};q^{2}\right)_{\infty }\\&=\left(q^{2};q^{2}\right)_{\infty }\,\theta \left(-w^{2}q;q^{2}\right)\end{aligned}}}$ 

where (  ;  )_∞ is the q-Pochhammer symbol and θ(  ;  ) is the q-theta function. Expanding terms out, the Jacobi triple product can also be written

${\displaystyle \prod _{m=1}^{\infty }\left(1-q^{2m}\right){\Big (}1+\left(w^{2}+w^{-2}\right)q^{2m-1}+q^{4m-2}{\Big )},}$ 

which we may also write as

${\displaystyle \vartheta (z\mid q)=\prod _{m=1}^{\infty }\left(1-q^{2m}\right)\left(1+2\cos(2\pi z)q^{2m-1}+q^{4m-2}\right).}$ 

This form is valid in general but clearly is of particular interest when z is real. Similar product formulas for the auxiliary theta functions are

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\vartheta _{01}(z\mid q)&=\prod _{m=1}^{\infty }\left(1-q^{2m}\right)\left(1-2\cos(2\pi z)q^{2m-1}+q^{4m-2}\right),\\[3pt]\vartheta _{10}(z\mid q)&=2q^{\frac {1}{4}}\cos(\pi z)\prod _{m=1}^{\infty }\left(1-q^{2m}\right)\left(1+2\cos(2\pi z)q^{2m}+q^{4m}\right),\\[3pt]\vartheta _{11}(z\mid q)&=-2q^{\frac {1}{4}}\sin(\pi z)\prod _{m=1}^{\infty }\left(1-q^{2m}\right)\left(1-2\cos(2\pi z)q^{2m}+q^{4m}\right).\end{aligned}}}$ 

In particular,

$${\displaystyle \lim _{q\to 0}{\frac {\vartheta _{10}(z\mid q)}{2q^{\frac {1}{4}}}}=\cos(\pi z),\quad \lim _{q\to 0}{\frac {-\vartheta _{11}(z\mid q)}{2q^{-{\frac {1}{4}}}}}=\sin(\pi z)}$$

 

so we may interpret them as one-parameter deformations of the periodic functions ${\displaystyle \sin ,\cos }$ , again validating the interpretation of the theta function as the most general 2 quasi-period function.

Integral representations

The Jacobi theta functions have the following integral representations:

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\vartheta _{00}(z;\tau )&=-i\int _{i-\infty }^{i+\infty }e^{i\pi \tau u^{2}}{\frac {\cos(2\pi uz+\pi u)}{\sin(\pi u)}}\mathrm {d} u;\\[6pt]\vartheta _{01}(z;\tau )&=-i\int _{i-\infty }^{i+\infty }e^{i\pi \tau u^{2}}{\frac {\cos(2\pi uz)}{\sin(\pi u)}}\mathrm {d} u;\\[6pt]\vartheta _{10}(z;\tau )&=-ie^{i\pi z+{\frac {1}{4}}i\pi \tau }\int _{i-\infty }^{i+\infty }e^{i\pi \tau u^{2}}{\frac {\cos(2\pi uz+\pi u+\pi \tau u)}{\sin(\pi u)}}\mathrm {d} u;\\[6pt]\vartheta _{11}(z;\tau )&=e^{i\pi z+{\frac {1}{4}}i\pi \tau }\int _{i-\infty }^{i+\infty }e^{i\pi \tau u^{2}}{\frac {\cos(2\pi uz+\pi \tau u)}{\sin(\pi u)}}\mathrm {d} u.\end{aligned}}}$ 

The Theta Nullwert function ${\displaystyle \theta _{3}(q)}$  as this integral identity:

${\displaystyle \theta _{3}(q)=1+{\frac {4q{\sqrt {\ln(1/q)}}}{\sqrt {\pi }}}\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {\exp[-\ln(1/q)\,x^{2}]\{1-q^{2}\cos[2\ln(1/q)\,x]\}}{1-2q^{2}\cos[2\ln(1/q)\,x]+q^{4}}}\,\mathrm {d} x}$ 

This formula was discussed in the essay Square series generating function transformations by the mathematician Maxie Schmidt from Georgia in Atlanta.

Based on this formula following three eminent examples are given:

${\displaystyle {\biggl [}{\frac {2}{\pi }}K{\bigl (}{\frac {1}{2}}{\sqrt {2}}{\bigr )}{\biggr ]}^{1/2}=\theta _{3}{\bigl [}\exp(-\pi ){\bigr ]}=1+4\exp(-\pi )\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {\exp(-\pi x^{2})[1-\exp(-2\pi )\cos(2\pi x)]}{1-2\exp(-2\pi )\cos(2\pi x)+\exp(-4\pi )}}\,\mathrm {d} x}$ 

${\displaystyle {\biggl [}{\frac {2}{\pi }}K({\sqrt {2}}-1){\biggr ]}^{1/2}=\theta _{3}{\bigl [}\exp(-{\sqrt {2}}\,\pi ){\bigr ]}=1+4\,{\sqrt[{4}]{2}}\exp(-{\sqrt {2}}\,\pi )\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {\exp(-{\sqrt {2}}\,\pi x^{2})[1-\exp(-2{\sqrt {2}}\,\pi )\cos(2{\sqrt {2}}\,\pi x)]}{1-2\exp(-2{\sqrt {2}}\,\pi )\cos(2{\sqrt {2}}\,\pi x)+\exp(-4{\sqrt {2}}\,\pi )}}\,\mathrm {d} x}$ 

${\displaystyle {\biggl \{}{\frac {2}{\pi }}K{\bigl [}\sin {\bigl (}{\frac {\pi }{12}}{\bigr )}{\bigr ]}{\biggr \}}^{1/2}=\theta _{3}{\bigl [}\exp(-{\sqrt {3}}\,\pi ){\bigr ]}=1+4\,{\sqrt[{4}]{3}}\exp(-{\sqrt {3}}\,\pi )\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {\exp(-{\sqrt {3}}\,\pi x^{2})[1-\exp(-2{\sqrt {3}}\,\pi )\cos(2{\sqrt {3}}\,\pi x)]}{1-2\exp(-2{\sqrt {3}}\,\pi )\cos(2{\sqrt {3}}\,\pi x)+\exp(-4{\sqrt {3}}\,\pi )}}\,\mathrm {d} x}$ 

Furthermore, the theta examples ${\displaystyle \theta _{3}({\tfrac {1}{2}})}$  and ${\displaystyle \theta _{3}({\tfrac {1}{3}})}$  shall be displayed:

${\displaystyle \theta _{3}{\bigl (}{\frac {1}{2}}{\bigr )}=1+2\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{2^{n^{2}}}}=1+2\pi ^{-1/2}{\sqrt {\ln(2)}}\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {\exp[-\ln(2)\,x^{2}]\{16-4\cos[2\ln(2)\,x]\}}{17-8\cos[2\ln(2)\,x]}}\,\mathrm {d} x}$ 

${\displaystyle \theta _{3}{\bigl (}{\frac {1}{2}}{\bigr )}=2.128936827211877158669\ldots }$ 

${\displaystyle \theta _{3}{\bigl (}{\frac {1}{3}}{\bigr )}=1+2\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }{\frac {1}{3^{n^{2}}}}=1+{\frac {4}{3}}\pi ^{-1/2}{\sqrt {\ln(3)}}\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {\exp[-\ln(3)\,x^{2}]\{81-9\cos[2\ln(3)\,x]\}}{82-18\cos[2\ln(3)\,x]}}\,\mathrm {d} x}$ 

${\displaystyle \theta _{3}{\bigl (}{\frac {1}{3}}{\bigr )}=1.691459681681715341348\ldots }$ 

Explicit values

Lemniscatic values

Proper credit for most of these results goes to Ramanujan. See Ramanujan's lost notebook and a relevant reference at Euler function. The Ramanujan results quoted at Euler function plus a few elementary operations give the results below, so they are either in Ramanujan's lost notebook or follow immediately from it. See also Yi (2004).^[12] Define,

${\displaystyle \quad \varphi (q)=\vartheta _{00}(0;\tau )=\theta _{3}(0;q)=\sum _{n=-\infty }^{\infty }q^{n^{2}}}$ 

with the nome ${\displaystyle q=e^{\pi i\tau },}$  ${\displaystyle \tau =n{\sqrt {-1}},}$  and Dedekind eta function ${\displaystyle \eta (\tau ).}$  Then for ${\displaystyle n=1,2,3,\dots }$ 

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\varphi \left(e^{-\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}={\sqrt {2}}\,\eta \left({\sqrt {-1}}\right)\\\varphi \left(e^{-2\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {\sqrt {2+{\sqrt {2}}}}{2}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-3\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {\sqrt {1+{\sqrt {3}}}}{\sqrt[{8}]{108}}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-4\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {2+{\sqrt[{4}]{8}}}{4}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-5\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\sqrt {\frac {2+{\sqrt {5}}}{5}}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-6\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {\sqrt {{\sqrt[{4}]{1}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{3}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{4}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{9}}}}{\sqrt[{8}]{12^{3}}}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-7\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {\sqrt {{\sqrt {13+{\sqrt {7}}}}+{\sqrt {7+3{\sqrt {7}}}}}}{{\sqrt[{8}]{14^{3}}}\cdot {\sqrt[{16}]{7}}}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-8\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {{\sqrt {2+{\sqrt {2}}}}+{\sqrt[{8}]{128}}}{4}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-9\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {1+{\sqrt[{3}]{2+2{\sqrt {3}}}}}{3}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-10\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {\sqrt {{\sqrt[{4}]{64}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{80}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{81}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{100}}}}{\sqrt[{4}]{200}}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-11\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {\sqrt {11+{\sqrt {11}}+(5+3{\sqrt {3}}+{\sqrt {11}}+{\sqrt {33}}){\sqrt[{3}]{-44+33{\sqrt {3}}}}+(-5+3{\sqrt {3}}-{\sqrt {11}}+{\sqrt {33}}){\sqrt[{3}]{44+33{\sqrt {3}}}}}}{\sqrt[{8}]{52180524}}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-12\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {\sqrt {{\sqrt[{4}]{1}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{2}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{3}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{4}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{9}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{18}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{24}}}}{2{\sqrt[{8}]{108}}}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-13\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {\sqrt {13+8{\sqrt {13}}+(11-6{\sqrt {3}}+{\sqrt {13}}){\sqrt[{3}]{143+78{\sqrt {3}}}}+(11+6{\sqrt {3}}+{\sqrt {13}}){\sqrt[{3}]{143-78{\sqrt {3}}}}}}{\sqrt[{4}]{19773}}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-14\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {\sqrt {{\sqrt {13+{\sqrt {7}}}}+{\sqrt {7+3{\sqrt {7}}}}+{\sqrt {10+2{\sqrt {7}}}}+{\sqrt[{8}]{28}}{\sqrt {4+{\sqrt {7}}}}}}{\sqrt[{16}]{28^{7}}}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-15\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {\sqrt {7+3{\sqrt {3}}+{\sqrt {5}}+{\sqrt {15}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{60}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{1500}}}}{{\sqrt[{8}]{12^{3}}}\cdot {\sqrt {5}}}}\\2\varphi \left(e^{-16\pi }\right)&=\varphi \left(e^{-4\pi }\right)+{\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{1+{\sqrt {2}}}}{\sqrt[{16}]{128}}}\\\varphi \left(e^{-17\pi }\right)&={\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\frac {{\sqrt {2}}(1+{\sqrt[{4}]{17}})+{\sqrt[{8}]{17}}{\sqrt {5+{\sqrt {17}}}}}{\sqrt {17+17{\sqrt {17}}}}}\\2\varphi \left(e^{-20\pi }\right)&=\varphi \left(e^{-5\pi }\right)+{\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\sqrt {\frac {3+2{\sqrt[{4}]{5}}}{5{\sqrt {2}}}}}\\6\varphi \left(e^{-36\pi }\right)&=3\varphi \left(e^{-9\pi }\right)+2\varphi \left(e^{-4\pi }\right)-\varphi \left(e^{-\pi }\right)+{\frac {\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}{\Gamma \left({\frac {3}{4}}\right)}}{\sqrt[{3}]{{\sqrt[{4}]{2}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{18}}+{\sqrt[{4}]{216}}}}\end{aligned}}}$ 

If the reciprocal of the Gelfond constant is raised to the power of the reciprocal of an odd number, then the corresponding ${\displaystyle \vartheta _{00}}$  values or ${\displaystyle \phi }$  values can be represented in a simplified way by using the hyperbolic lemniscatic sine:

${\displaystyle \varphi {\bigl [}\exp(-{\tfrac {1}{5}}\pi ){\bigr ]}={\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}\,{\Gamma \left({\tfrac {3}{4}}\right)}^{-1}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {1}{5}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {2}{5}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}}$ 

${\displaystyle \varphi {\bigl [}\exp(-{\tfrac {1}{7}}\pi ){\bigr ]}={\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}\,{\Gamma \left({\tfrac {3}{4}}\right)}^{-1}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {1}{7}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {2}{7}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {3}{7}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}}$ 

${\displaystyle \varphi {\bigl [}\exp(-{\tfrac {1}{9}}\pi ){\bigr ]}={\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}\,{\Gamma \left({\tfrac {3}{4}}\right)}^{-1}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {1}{9}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {2}{9}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {3}{9}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {4}{9}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}}$ 

${\displaystyle \varphi {\bigl [}\exp(-{\tfrac {1}{11}}\pi ){\bigr ]}={\sqrt[{4}]{\pi }}\,{\Gamma \left({\tfrac {3}{4}}\right)}^{-1}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {1}{11}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {2}{11}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {3}{11}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {4}{11}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}\operatorname {slh} {\bigl (}{\tfrac {5}{11}}{\sqrt {2}}\,\varpi {\bigr )}}$ 

With the letter ${\displaystyle \varpi }$  the Lemniscate constant is represented.

Note that the following modular identities hold:

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}2\varphi \left(q^{4}\right)&=\varphi (q)+{\sqrt {2\varphi ^{2}\left(q^{2}\right)-\varphi ^{2}(q)}}\\3\varphi \left(q^{9}\right)&=\varphi (q)+{\sqrt[{3}]{9{\frac {\varphi ^{4}\left(q^{3}\right)}{\varphi (q)}}-\varphi ^{3}(q)}}\\{\sqrt {5}}\varphi \left(q^{25}\right)&=\varphi \left(q^{5}\right)\cot \left({\frac {1}{2}}\arctan \left({\frac {2}{\sqrt {5}}}{\frac {\varphi (q)\varphi \left(q^{5}\right)}{\varphi ^{2}(q)-\varphi ^{2}\left(q^{5}\right)}}{\frac {1+s(q)-s^{2}(q)}{s(q)}}\right)\right)\end{aligned}}}$ 

where ${\displaystyle s(q)=s\left(e^{\pi i\tau }\right)=-R\left(-e^{-\pi i/(5\tau )}\right)}$  is the Rogers–Ramanujan continued fraction:

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}s(q)&={\sqrt[{5}]{\tan \left({\frac {1}{2}}\arctan \left({\frac {5}{2}}{\frac {\varphi ^{2}\left(q^{5}\right)}{\varphi ^{2}(q)}}-{\frac {1}{2}}\right)\right)\cot ^{2}\left({\frac {1}{2}}\operatorname {arccot} \left({\frac {5}{2}}{\frac {\varphi ^{2}\left(q^{5}\right)}{\varphi ^{2}(q)}}-{\frac {1}{2}}\right)\right)}}\\&={\cfrac {e^{-\pi i/(25\tau )}}{1-{\cfrac {e^{-\pi i/(5\tau )}}{1+{\cfrac {e^{-2\pi i/(5\tau )}}{1-\ddots }}}}}}\end{aligned}}}$ 

Equianharmonic values

The mathematician Bruce Berndt found out further values^[13] of the theta function:

March 08, 2024