OVERPARTITIONSSYLVIE CORTEEL AND JEREMY LOVEJOY
Abstract. We discuss a generalization of partitions, called overpartitions, which have provenuseful in several combinatorial studies of basic hypergeometric series. After showing how a number of finite products occurring in q-series have natural interpretations in terms of overpartitions,
we present an introduction to their rich structure as revealed by q-series identities.

1. introduction
A partition of n is a non-increasing sequence of natural numbers whose sum is n. The desire
to discover and prove theorems about partitions has been a driving force behind the recent
renaissance of basic hypergeometric series. However, it is still not clear how to interpret mostq-series identities in a natural way as statements about partitions, and even fewer are deducibleusing combinatorial properties of partitions. While some progress has been made by consideringparts in different congruence classes or by studying statistics on partitions (see [1, 2, 24], forinstance), it seems to be most fruitful to employ the perspective of certain direct products ofpartitions which we call overpartitions.
An overpartition of n is a non-increasing sequence of natural numbers whose sum is n inwhich the first occurrence (equivalently, the final occurrence) of a number may be overlined. We
denote the number of overpartitions of n by p(n). Since the overlined parts form a partition into
distinct parts and the non-overlined parts form an ordinary partition, we have the generating
function∞∞XY
1 + qnp(n)q n == 1 + 2q + 4q 2 + 8q 3 + 14q 4 + ...
(1.1)
1 − qnn=0

n=1

For example, the 14 overpartitions of 4 are
4, 4, 3 + 1, 3 + 1, 3 + 1, 3 + 1, 2 + 2, 2 + 2, 2 + 1 + 1,
2 + 1 + 1, 2 + 1 + 1, 2 + 1 + 1, 1 + 1 + 1 + 1, 1 + 1 + 1 + 1.
These objects have been treated sporadically, under different names and guises. They werediscussed by MacMahon [20], and subsequently were found to be natural combinatorial structuresassociated with the q-binomial theorem, Heine’s transformation, and Lebesgue’s identity (see[21] for a summary with references). In [18], they formed the basis for an algorithmic approach tothe combinatorics of basic hypergeometric series. More recently overpartitions have been foundat the heart of bijective proofs of Ramanujan’s 1 ψ1 summation and the q-Gauss summation[14, 15]. It should come as no surprise, then, that the theory of basic hypergeometric series
contains a wealth of information about overpartitions and that many theorems and techniques
Date: January 21, 2004.
1

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SYLVIE CORTEEL AND JEREMY LOVEJOY

for ordinary partitions have analogues for overpartitions. The following pages are intended as
an introduction to the structure of overpartitions revealed by q-series identities.
We begin in the next section by studying the equivalence of the objects generated by thesummations in∞X(−a; q)n q n(−aq; q)∞=
(1.2)
(q; q)n(q; q)∞
n=0

and

∞
X
(−1/a; q)n an q n(n+1)/2
n=0(q; q)2n=(−aq; q)∞.
(q; q)∞(1.3)

Here and throughout we employ the standard q-series notation(a1 , ..., aj ; q)∞ =∞Y(1 − a1 q k ) · · · (1 − aj q k ),k=0

(a1 , ..., aj ; q)n =(a1 , ..., aj ; q)∞.
(a1 q n , ..., aj q n ; q)∞It turns out that the left side of (1.2) counts overpartitions according to the number of parts (seeProposition 2.1), while the left side of (1.3) represents overpartitions using generalized Frobenius
partitions. Recall that a Frobenius partition of n [9] is a two-rowed array¶µa1 a2 ... akb1 b2 ... bk
P
P
where
bi is a partition taken from a set B, andP ai is a partition taken from a set A,
k + (ai + bi ) = n. The number of such Frobenius partitions of n is denoted by pA,B (n). We
shall exhibit a bijection which proves
Theorem 1.1. Let Q be the set of partitions into distinct non-negative parts, O the set of overpartitions into non-negative parts. There is a one-to-one correspondence between overpartitions
λ of n and Frobenius partitions ν counted by pQ,O (n) in which the number of overlined parts in
λ is equal to the number of non-overlined parts in the bottom row of ν.
In addition to providing a useful representation of overpartitions, the bijection implies q−series
identities like
Corollary 1.2.

· ¸nX(−1/a; q)k ck ak q k(k+1)/2 nk=0(cq; q)kk=(−acq; q)n,(cq; q)n

(1.4)

and
Corollary 1.3.
∞(−1/z, −zq; q)∞(−bq; q)∞ X z n q n(n+1)/2=.
(q; q)∞ n=−∞ (−bq; q)n(b/z; q)∞(1.5)

OVERPARTITIONS

3

These are the q-Chu-Vandermonde summation [17, p.236, (II.7)] and a limiting case of Ramanujan’s 1 ψ1 summation [17, p.239, (II.29)], respectively. Here we have used the q-binomial
coefficient· ¸(q; q)n
n
=
.
(1.6)
k
(q; q)k (q; q)n−k
We shall also discover a family of generating functions for column-restricted Frobenius partitions.
Corollary 1.4. Let FS (n) denote the number of Frobenius partitions counted by pQ,O with therestriction that non-overlined parts can only occur under parts from the set S. Then for any setof non-negative integers S we haveQ∞
X
(1 + q s+1 )n
FS (n)q = s∈S.
(q; q)∞
n=0

In §3 we look at a graphical representation for overpartitions and its implications. This
representation can be utilized to give straightforward proofs of identities like the Rogers-Fine
identity [16, p. 15, (14.1)],∞
X(−a; q)n (tq)nn=0(bq; q)n=2∞
X(−a; q)n (−atq/b; q)n (1 + atq 2n+1 )(bt)n q n +nn=0(bq; q)n (tq; q)n+1

.

(1.7)

The remainder of the paper is devoted to the deduction of facts about overpartitions fromidentities and transformations in the theory of basic hypergeometric series. For instance, it will
be natural in this context to define the rank of an overpartition as one less than the largest part
minus the number of overlined parts less than the largest part. We shall see
Theorem 1.5. Let D(n) denote the number of overpartitions with even rank minus the number
with odd rank. Then D(n) is equal to 0 if and only if n ≡ 2 (mod 4). On the other hand,D(n) = 2k has infinitely many solutions for any k ∈ Z.
Theorem 1.5 is similar in flavor to results obtained by Andrews, Dyson and Hickerson [10, Thm.
4] for partitions into distinct parts. We also give an analogue for overpartitions of Andrews’
generalization of the Rogers-Ramanujan identities [6]. The combinatorial interpretation is interms of a Durfee square dissection of the associated partition of a partition into distinct nonnegative parts (see §4.3 for the definitions).
Theorem 1.6. The number of overpartitions with parts not divisible by k is equal to the numberof overpartitions whose Frobenius representation has a top row with at most k − 2 Durfee squares
in its associated partition.
As a final example, we apply identities involving partial theta functions to relate sums of squares
to Frobenius overpartitions, i.e., Frobenius partitions counted by PO,O (n).
Theorem 1.7. Let D5 (n) denote the number of Frobenius overpartitions of n in which the sumof the largest parts in the top and bottom row is odd minus those for which it is even. If r2 (n)denotes the number of representations of n as the sum of two squares, thenD5 (n) = (−1)n r2 (n).
These and other theorems on overpartitions are established in §4.

(1.8)

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SYLVIE CORTEEL AND JEREMY LOVEJOY

2. The two representations
From the definition and the generating function (1.1) it follows that overpartitions can beviewed through a number of different lenses. For instance, the number of overpartitions of n is
the number of partitions of n in which one part of each odd size may be tagged, or the numberof partitions λ of n weighted by 2µ(λ) , where µ(λ) denotes the number of different part sizes
occurring in the partition. From the perspective of q-series, the most natural representations
correspond to (1.2) and (1.3). Before proving Theorem 1.1, which describes the correspondence
between these two representations, we recall the bijection which establishes the generating function for the number of overpartitions with exactly k parts.
Proposition 2.1. Let pk,l,m (n) denote the number of overpartitions of n into k parts with loverlined parts and rank m (as defined in the introduction). Then∞X

pk,l,m (n)al bm z k q n =l,m,n=0(−a; q)k (zq)k.
(bq; q)k(2.1)

Proof. The function (zq)k /(bq; q)k generates a partition λ into k positive (non-overlined) parts,
where the exponent on z keeps track of the number of parts and the exponent on b records thelargest part minus 1. Note that since there are not yet any overlined parts, this is the same as
the rank. Now (−a; q)k generates a partition µ = µ1 + · · · + µj into distinct non-negative partsless than k, with the exponent on a tracking the number of parts. For each of these µi beginningwith the largest, we add 1 to the first µi parts of λ, and then overline the (µi + 1)th part of λ.
Here the parts of λ are written in non-increasing order. This operation leaves the rank invariant
and counts one overlined part for each part of µ. For example, if k = 5, λ = 8 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 1,
and µ = 4 + 3 + 0, then we have
(8 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 1, 4 + 3 + 0)

⇐⇒
⇐⇒
⇐⇒

(9 + 5 + 5 + 3 + 1, 3 + 0)
(10 + 6 + 6 + 3 + 1, 0)(10 + 6 + 6 + 3 + 1)

The result is obviously an overpartition and the process is easily inverted.

¤

The mapping above (with b = 1) was considered in [18], where it was noted that by summingover the non-negative integers k, we obtain the q-binomial theorem∞X(−a; q)k (zq)k(−azq; q)∞
=
.
(2.2)
(q; q)k(zq; q)∞k=0

Proof of Theorem 1.1. From Proposition 2.1 one deduces that the equality of the series inequations (1.2) and (1.3) is equivalent to the statement of the theorem. The bijection below
explicitly gives the correspondence. In the case where the overpartition λ has no overlined parts,
it reduces to the usual mapping between a partition and its Frobenius symbol [9].
We use the notion of a hook. Given a positive integer a and a non-negative integer b, h(a, b)
is the hook that corresponds to the partition (a, 1, . . . , 1) where there are b ones. Combining ahook h(a, b) and a partition α is possible if and only if a > α1 and b ≥ l(α), where l(α) denotes
the number of parts of α. The result of the union is β = h(a, b) ∪ α with β1 = a, l(β) = b + 1
and βi = αi−1 + 1 for i > 1.

OVERPARTITIONS

5

Now take a Frobenius partition ν counted by pQ,O (n), increase the entries on the top row by
1 and initialize α and β to the empty object, ². Beginning with the rightmost column of ν, we
proceed to the left, building α into an ordinary partition and β into a partition into distinct
parts. At the ith column, if bi is overlined, then we add the hook h(ai , bi ) to α. Otherwise,
we add the part bi to α0 (the conjugate of α) and the part ai to β. Joining the parts of α
togetherµ with the parts¶ of β gives the overpartition λ. An example is given below starting with
7 5 4 2 0
ν=.
6 4 4 3 1
ναβ¶µ8 6 5 3 1
µ6 4 4 3¶ 1
8 6 5 3
µ6 4 4¶ 3
8 6 5µ6 4¶ 4
8 6
µ6¶ 4
8
6
²

²

²

(1, 1)²(2, 2, 1)(3)(3, 3, 2, 1)(5, 3)(6, 4, 4, 3, 2)(5, 3)(7, 5, 5, 4, 3, 1) (8, 5, 3)

We get λ = (8̄, 7, 5̄, 5, 5, 4, 3̄, 3, 1). The reverse bijection is easily described. Given α and β,
we set the Frobenius partition equal to ². We proceed until α and β are empty, at each step
adding a columntoµ¶ the Frobenius partition according to the following rule: If β1 ≥ α1 then add
β1
the column
and decrease the parts of α by 1 and delete the largest part of β. Otherwise
l(α)
µ
¶
α1
add the column
and we delete the hook h(α1 , l(α) − 1) from α. Finally, decreasel(α) − 1by 1 the entries of the top row. For example, using this recipe one easily traces the pair (α, β)above back to the Frobenius partition.
¤
Proof of Corollary 1.2 Notice that the number of parts in the overpartition λ corresponds tothe sum of the number of columns and the rank of the bottom row in the Frobenius partition ν.
Here we have defined the rank of an overpartition into non-negative parts to be the largest part
minus the number of overlined parts less than the largest part. Moreover, if· λ¸has parts at mostnn, then ν has a top row with parts at most n − 1. Since the term q k(k+1)/2
is the generatingkfunction for a partition into exactly k distinct parts ≤ n, the bijection implies (1.4).
¤
Proof of Corollary 1.3. The coefficient of z 0 on the right side of (1.5) can be interpreted as
the generating function for Frobenius partitions counted by pQ,O where the power of b tracks
the number of non-overlined parts in the bottom row. By the bijection above, this generating
function is (−bq; q)∞ /(q; q)∞ . Arguing as in [15], this is sufficient to prove the identity in full

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SYLVIE CORTEEL AND JEREMY LOVEJOY

Figure 1. Overpartition

Figure 2. Conjugate

generality.

¤

Proof of Corollary 1.4. This follows easily from the bijection described above by noticing thatthe overlined parts of the overpartition, which are the parts of β, are always mapped to a position
above a non-overlined part in the bottom row of the corresponding Frobenius partition.
¤
3. A graphical representation
If we think of an overpartition as a partition in which the final occurrence of a part may
be overlined, then such a partition corresponds to an ordinary Ferrers diagram in which thecorners may be colored. Conjugating, or reading the columns of the diagram, gives anotheroverpartition. For example, the overpartition (9, 7, 5, 4, 4, 2, 1, 1, 1) is represented in Fig. 1. Its
conjugate is in Fig. 2 and it is (9, 6, 5, 5, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1).
Observe that conjugating maps the number of non-overlined parts to the largest part minus
the number of overlined parts. This number is the rank if the largest part is overlined and one
more than the rank otherwise, which proves an overpartition-theoretic analogue of a theorem ofFine on partitions into distinct parts [16, p. 47, Eq. (24.6)] :Proposition 3.2. For n, m ≥ 1, the number of overpartitions of n with rank m or m + 1 isequal to twice the number of overpartitions of n with exactly m + 1 non-overlined parts.
As with ordinary partitions, there are many natural statistics associated with such a diagram,and one may readily write down q-series identities by counting overpartitions in different ways.
We highlight this for the Durfee rectangle:
Proof of (1.7). Proposition 2.1 tells us that the coefficient of [q n tk al bm ] is the number ofoverpartitions of n with k parts, l overlined parts and rank m. We shall prove that the coefficientof [q n tk al bm ] in2(−a; q)d (−atq/b; q)d (1 + atq 2d+1 )(bt)d q d +d.
(bq; q)d (tq; q)d+1
is the number of overpartitions of n with Durfee rectangle size d, k parts, l overlined parts andrank m. Let us first recall that the Durfee rectangle is the largest (d + 1) × d rectangle thatcan be placed on the Ferrers diagram [3]. For example the size of the Durfee rectangle of theoverpartition on Fig. 1 is 3 and of the overpartition on Fig. 2 is 4.

OVERPARTITIONS

7

II
I

I
IV

IV
II

III

III

Figure 4. Example
Figure 3. Construction
We will interpret the formula “piece by piece” :
I

IV
II
III
}|
{ z }| {z }| { z}|{z2(−a; q)d (−atq/b; q)d (1 + atq 2d+1 ) (bt)d q d +d.
(bq; q)d (tq; q)d+1| {z } | {z }IIIII

We construct the overpartition as follows :• Piece I : the Durfee rectangle (d + 1) × d. It is obviously an overpartition of d2 + d intod parts, with rank d and 0 overlined parts.
• Piece II : an overpartition into d non-negative parts. This overpartition is put at
the right of the Durfee rectangle. The number of overlined parts (resp. rank) of that
overpartition is then added to the number of overlined parts (resp. rank) of the Durfee
rectangle.
• Piece III : an overpartition into parts at most d+1 where each part increases the numberof parts by 1 and the part d + 1, if it occurs, can not be overlined. This overpartition isput under the Durfee rectangle. Each overlined part decreases the rank by 1 and eachpart increases the number of parts by 1.
• Piece IV: Allows a possible overlined part of size d + 1 under the Durfee rectangle, andin that case increases the first d parts by 1.
The construction is summarized in Fig. 3. Let us give an example with d = 4, which isillustrated in Fig. 4. We start with the overpartition π = ².
• Piece I : (5, 5, 5, 5). π = (5, 5, 5, 5)• Piece II : (5, 4, 3, 0). π = (10, 9, 8, 5).
• Piece III : (5, 5, 4̄, 4, 3̄). π = (10, 9, 8, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3).
• Piece IV : (9). π = (11, 10, 9, 6, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3).

4. Overpartitions and q-series
Armed with the interpretation of certain finite products in terms of overpartitions, we can
now have a field day reading off theorems from q-series identities. The point is that basic products correspond to overpartition-theoretic functions in the following way (we include ordinary

8

SYLVIE CORTEEL AND JEREMY LOVEJOY

partitions for comparison):1(q; q)k⇐⇒p(n),(−1; q)k q k(q; q)k⇐⇒p(n),(−1; q)k q k(k+1)/2(q; q)2k⇐⇒

pQ,O (n) ⇐⇒ p(n),(−1; q)2k q k(q; q)2k⇐⇒

pO,O (n).

4.1. Overpartitions and divisor functions. By observing that
1/(1 − zq n ) = (zq; q)n−1 /(zq; q)nis a generating function for overpartitions, we can easily make connections with divisor series.
Even the simplest cases reveal what is surprising behavior for such elementary combinatorial
functions.
yTheorem 4.1. Let n have the factorization 2x py11 ...pj j , where the pi are distinct odd primes.
Then the number of overpartitions of n with even rank minus the number with odd rank is equalto2(1 − x)(y1 + 1) · · · (yj + 1).
(4.1)
Proof. From Proposition (2.1) we have that∞X(−1; q)n q nn=0(zq; q)n=∞Xp(m, n)z m q n ,

(4.2)

m,n=0

where p(m, n) denotes the number of overpartitions of n with rank m. Set z = −1 and observe
P 2qn
that
1+q n is the generating function for twice the number of odd divisors minus twice thenumber of even divisors of a natural number, which is in turn expressed by (4.1).
¤
Proof of Theorem 1.5. This is an obvious corollary, as the expression in (4.1) can be madeinto any even integer, and is 0 only when x = 1.
¤
Another simple case relates the ordinary divisor function to the co-rank of an overpartition.
The co-rank is the number of overlined parts less than the largest part.
Theorem 4.2. Let n have the factorization above and let D1 (n) be the number of overpartitions
with even co-rank minus the number with odd co-rank. Then
D1 (n) = 2(1 + x)(y1 + 1) · · · (yj + 1).

(4.3)

Proof. From the arguments in Proposition 2.1, we see that∞X2(−zq; q)n−1 q nn=1(q; q)n

=

∞
X
m≥0
n≥1

p1 (m, n)z m q n ,(4.4)

OVERPARTITIONS

9where p1 (m, n) denotes the number of overpartitions of n with co-rank m. Set z = −1 andnotice that (4.3) is the number of divisors of n.
¤
As before, we can easily deduce some curious facts. We cite
Corollary 4.3. D1 (n) is always positive and is infinitely often equal to 2k for any natural
number k.
It is worth pointing out that the above theorems can also be deduced using a simple involution
on overpartitions. Let m be the smallest part size. If m is in the partition, then take off theoverline; otherwise overline the first occurrence of m. This involution changes the parity of therank and of the co-rank except when the partition has only one part size. The theorems follow.
We close with an analogue for overpartitions of a theorem of Uchimura on partitions into
distinct parts [12, 22].
Theorem 4.4. The sum of all overpartitions of n weighted by (−1)k−1 m, where m is the smallest
part and k is the number of parts, is equal to twice the number of odd divisors of n.
Proof. Set b = −1 and c = q in the q-Gauss summation [17, p.236, (II.8)],∞
X(c/a, c/b; q)∞(a, b; q)n (c/ab)n=.
(c, q; q)n(c, c/ab; q)∞

(4.5)

n=0

d
Then take daof both sides and set a = 1. This yields∞
X(−1; q)n (−1)n−1 q n

∞
X

n=1

n=1

=
(q; q)n−1 (1 − q n )22q n.
(1 − q 2n )The right side generates odd divisors, while expanding q n /(1 − q n )2 = (q n + 2q 2n + · · · ) andappealing to Proposition 2.1 shows that the left side generates the weighted count of overpartitions.
¤
We shall return to the relationship between overpartitions and divisor functions when more
intricate examples are treated in §3.4 in the context of Bailey chains and again in §3.5 in thecontext of partial theta functions.
4.2. Overpartitions and Theta Series. Here we use (1.7) to reveal that certain generating
functions for overpartitions are given by theta-type series. The example below is related to theperimeter of an overpartition, which is defined to be the largest part plus the number of parts.
Theorem 4.5. Let D2 (m, n) denote the number of overpartitions of n with perimeter m having
largest part even minus the number having largest part odd. Then we have(2(−1)n , m = 2k and n = k 2
D2 (m, n) =(4.6)
0,
otherwise.
Proof. In the Rogers-Fine identity (1.7) let t = −z, a = b = zq, multiply both sides by−2qz 2 /(1 − zq), and shift the summation to get∞∞XX2(−zq)n−1 (−q)n z n+1
2(−1)n z 2n q n .
=2(4.7)(zq; q)n
n=1

n=1

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SYLVIE CORTEEL AND JEREMY LOVEJOY

Figure 5. Consecutive Durfee squares
Now the left side generates the nonempty overpartitions with an even number of parts minus
the nonempty overpartitions with an odd number of parts, where the exponent on z is equal to
1 plus the number of parts plus the rank plus the co-rank. This is easily seen to be equal to theperimeter.
¤
A combinatorial proof of this result is essentially contained in [13].
4.3. Overpartitions and the Bailey chain. Now we turn to significantly deeper results fromthe theory of basic hypergeometric series. We give two samples of how overpartitions fit nicely
into the theory of Bailey chains by applying Andrews’ multiple series generalization of Watson’stransformation [4]. As usual, the combinatorics is in terms of the Durfee dissection of a partition[6]. We recall that the Ferrers diagram of a partition λ has a largest upper-left justified squarecalled the Durfee square. Since there is a partition to the right of this square, we identify its
Durfee square as the second Durfee square of the partition λ. Continuing in this way, we obtaina sequence of successive squares. For example for the partition (13, 13, 12, 7, 6, 4, 2, 1, 1), we get
the sequence (5, 3, 3, 2). See Fig. 5. We also recall that the associated partition of a partition
into distinct non-negative parts is obtained by writing the parts in increasing order and thenremoving j − 1 from the jth part.
Proof of Theorem 1.6. We apply Andrews’ multiple series transformation [4] with all variables
besides ck , a, and q tending to infinity to find that for any natural number k we have2

Xnk−1 ≥···≥n1 ≥0

∞

=

2

(ck ; q)nk−1 q nk−1 (nk−1 +1)/2+nk−2 +···+n1 ank−1 +···+n1(q; q)nk−1 −nk−2 · · · (q; q)n2 −n1 (q; q)n1 (−ck )nk−1(4.8)(aq/ck ; q)∞ X (1 − aq 2n )(a, ck ; q)n akn q kn.
(q; q)∞(1 − a)(q, aq/ck ; q)n cnk
2

n=0

If we set a = 1 and ck = −1 then the right side becomes a theta series which sums (by the triple
product identity [17, p. 239, Eq. II.28]) to(−q; q)∞ (q k ; q k )∞.
(−q k ; q k )∞ (q; q)∞OVERPARTITIONS

11This is the generating function for overpartitions with parts not divisible by k. The (k − 1)-foldsummation on the left becomesX
nk−1 ≥···≥n1 ≥0

2

q

nk−1

2

(−1; q)nk−1
q nk−1 (nk−1 −1)/2+nk−2 +···+n1 (q; q)nk−1
××,(q; q)nk−1 −nk−2 · · · (q; q)n2 −n1 (q; q)n1
(q; q)nk−1

which we interpret as a generating function for Frobenius partitions counted by pQ,O (n). First,
the factor q nk−1 will count the number of columns. Next, by Proposition 2.1, the quotient(−1; q)nk−1(q; q)nk−1
generates an overpartition into exactly nk−1 non-negative parts for the bottom row. Finally, thetop row is generated by the rest of the summand, which, as detailed in [5, p.54-55], is the generating function for partitions into nk−1 distinct non-negative parts whose associated partition
has at most k − 2 Durfee squares.
¤
Now we consider a different application of (4.8) which links a weighted count of the overpartitions in Theorem 1.6 to a generalization of a divisor function which arose from a study of certain
types of identities appearing in Ramanujan’s lost notebook [11]. Namely, let mk (n) denote thenumberof k-middle divisors of n, that is, the number of divisors of n which occur in the intervalp√[ n/k, kn).
Theorem 4.6. Let D4± (k, n) denote the number of overpartitions whose Frobenius representations have a top row with at most k − 2 Durfee squares in the associated partition, where thenumber of columns plus the co-rank of the bottom row is even (odd). Then
D4− (k, n) − D4+ (k, n) = 2mk (n).

(4.9)

Proof. Set a = 1 in (4.8), differentiate with respect to ck , set ck = 1, and multiply both sides
by 2. The result is
2

2

∞

X qn
−2(q; q)nk−1 −1 (−1)nk−1 q nk−1 (nk−1 +1)/2+nk−2 +···+n1(1 + q n )q kn=2−.
n(q; q)nk−1 −nk−2 · · · (q; q)n2 −n1 (q; q)n11−q
1 − qn≥···≥n ≥0
X

2

n=1

nk−1
1
nk−1 >0(4.10)The multiple sum counts the same overpartitions as in the previous theorem, but is weighted by(−1)t , where t is 1 plus the number of columns plus the co-rank of the bottom row. As discussed
in [11], the right side generates the k-middle divisors.
¤
4.4. Frobenius overpartitions and partial theta functions. Identities involving partial
theta functions appeared in Ramanujan’s lost notebook and have been extensively studied [7, 23].
Consider, for example, the following infinite product representations for two sums involving
partial theta products (aq, q/a; q)n [19]:∞X (−1; q)2 q n4a4a(q 2 ; q 2 )∞n+=,
(1 + a)2(aq, q/a; q)n(1 + a)2 (q; q 2 )∞ (q, aq, q/a; q)∞n=1(4.11)12

SYLVIE CORTEEL AND JEREMY LOVEJOY∞

X (q; q)2n−1 q na(q; q)2∞a+=.
(1 − a)2(aq, q/a; q)n(1 − a)2 (aq, q/a; q)∞(4.12)

n=1

By now these are easily recognizable as statements about Frobenius overpartitions. We highlightjust one special case, where we again encounter divisor functions.
Proof of Theorem 1.7. Setting a = −1 in (4.12) we obtain
1−4∞
X(q; q)2n−1 q nn=1(−q; q)2n=(q; q)2∞.
(−q; q)2∞

The sum on the left side generates nonempty Frobenius overpartitions weighted by the parity ofthe sum of the ranks and co-ranks in top and bottom row. This is also the parity of the sum of
the largest parts in the top and bottom row. The weight one modular form on the right handside is the generating function for number of representations of a natural number n as the sumof 2 squares, weighted by (−1)n . This is known to be 4(−1)n (d1 (n) − d3 (n)), where di denotes
the number of divisors of n which are congruent to i modulo 4 [17].
¤5. Concluding Remarks
We have hopefully demonstrated that overpartitions provide a natural setting for the interpretation of q-series identities. We have confined ourselves to an introductory sample, but without
a doubt there is much more to be learned about these objects in this context. It is hoped, in
addition, that the ongoing revelation of their rich structure will continue to assist in the discovery of simple bijective proofs for identities involving basic hypergeometric series. Finally, it will
be interesting to see whether overpartitions have a natural place, as partitions do, in subjects
like Representation Theory, Number Theory, Lie Algebras, and Mathematical Physics.
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to the referee for his patience and care in scrutinizing previous versions and offering numerous invaluable suggestions for their improvement andclarification.
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CNRS, PRiSM, UVSQ, 45 Avenue des Etats Unis, 78035 Versailles Cedex, FRANCE
E-mail address: Sylvie.Corteel@prism.uvsq.fr
CNRS, LABRI, Université Bordeaux I, 351 Cours de la libération, 33405 Talence Cedex, FRANCE
E-mail address: lovejoy@math.wisc.edu