The Rogers–Ramanujan continued fraction is a continued fraction discovered by Rogers (1894) and independently by Srinivasa Ramanujan, and closely related to the Rogers–Ramanujan identities. It can be evaluated explicitly for a broad class of values of its argument.
Given the functions G(q) and H(q) appearing in the Rogers–Ramanujan identities,
G
(
q
)
=
∑
n
=
0
∞
q
n
2
(
1
−
q
)
(
1
−
q
2
)
⋯
(
1
−
q
n
)
=
∑
n
=
0
∞
q
n
2
(
q
;
q
)
n
=
1
(
q
;
q
5
)
∞
(
q
4
;
q
5
)
∞
=
∏
n
=
1
∞
1
(
1
−
q
5
n
−
1
)
(
1
−
q
5
n
−
4
)
=
q
j
60
2
F
1
(
−
1
60
,
19
60
;
4
5
;
1728
j
)
=
q
(
j
−
1728
)
60
2
F
1
(
−
1
60
,
29
60
;
4
5
;
−
1728
j
−
1728
)
=
1
+
q
+
q
2
+
q
3
+
2
q
4
+
2
q
5
+
3
q
6
+
⋯
and,
H
(
q
)
=
∑
n
=
0
∞
q
n
2
+
n
(
1
−
q
)
(
1
−
q
2
)
⋯
(
1
−
q
n
)
=
∑
n
=
0
∞
q
n
2
+
n
(
q
;
q
)
n
=
1
(
q
2
;
q
5
)
∞
(
q
3
;
q
5
)
∞
=
∏
n
=
1
∞
1
(
1
−
q
5
n
−
2
)
(
1
−
q
5
n
−
3
)
=
1
q
11
j
11
60
2
F
1
(
11
60
,
31
60
;
6
5
;
1728
j
)
=
1
q
11
(
j
−
1728
)
11
60
2
F
1
(
11
60
,
41
60
;
6
5
;
−
1728
j
−
1728
)
=
1
+
q
2
+
q
3
+
q
4
+
q
5
+
2
q
6
+
2
q
7
+
⋯
A003114 and A003106, respectively, where
(
a
;
q
)
∞
denotes the infinite q-Pochhammer symbol, j is the j-function, and 2F1 is the hypergeometric function, then the Rogers–Ramanujan continued fraction is,
R
(
q
)
=
q
11
60
H
(
q
)
q
−
1
60
G
(
q
)
=
q
1
5
∏
n
=
1
∞
(
1
−
q
5
n
−
1
)
(
1
−
q
5
n
−
4
)
(
1
−
q
5
n
−
2
)
(
1
−
q
5
n
−
3
)
=
q
1
/
5
1
+
q
1
+
q
2
1
+
q
3
1
+
⋱
If
q
=
e
2
π
i
τ
, then
q
−
1
60
G
(
q
)
and
q
11
60
H
(
q
)
, as well as their quotient
R
(
q
)
, are modular functions of
τ
. Since they have integral coefficients, the theory of complex multiplication implies that their values for
τ
an imaginary quadratic irrational are algebraic numbers that can be evaluated explicitly.
R
(
e
−
2
π
)
=
e
−
2
π
5
1
+
e
−
2
π
1
+
e
−
4
π
1
+
⋱
=
5
+
5
2
−
ϕ
R
(
e
−
2
5
π
)
=
e
−
2
π
5
1
+
e
−
2
π
5
1
+
e
−
4
π
5
1
+
⋱
=
5
1
+
(
5
3
/
4
(
ϕ
−
1
)
5
/
2
−
1
)
1
/
5
−
ϕ
where
ϕ
=
1
+
5
2
is the golden ratio.
It can be related to the Dedekind eta function, a modular form of weight 1/2, as,
1
R
(
q
)
−
R
(
q
)
=
η
(
τ
5
)
η
(
5
τ
)
+
1
1
R
5
(
q
)
−
R
5
(
q
)
=
[
η
(
τ
)
η
(
5
τ
)
]
6
+
11
Among the many formulas of the j-function, one is,
j
(
τ
)
=
(
x
2
+
10
x
+
5
)
3
x
where
x
=
[
5
η
(
5
τ
)
η
(
τ
)
]
6
Eliminating the eta quotient, one can then express j(τ) in terms of
r
=
R
(
q
)
as,
j
(
τ
)
=
−
(
r
20
−
228
r
15
+
494
r
10
+
228
r
5
+
1
)
3
r
5
(
r
10
+
11
r
5
−
1
)
5
j
(
τ
)
−
1728
=
−
(
r
30
+
522
r
25
−
10005
r
20
−
10005
r
10
−
522
r
5
+
1
)
2
r
5
(
r
10
+
11
r
5
−
1
)
5
where the numerator and denominator are polynomial invariants of the icosahedron. Using the modular equation between
R
(
q
)
and
R
(
q
5
)
, one finds that,
j
(
5
τ
)
=
−
(
r
20
+
12
r
15
+
14
r
10
−
12
r
5
+
1
)
3
r
25
(
r
10
+
11
r
5
−
1
)
let
z
=
r
5
−
1
r
5
,then
j
(
5
τ
)
=
−
(
z
2
+
12
z
+
16
)
3
z
+
11
where
z
∞
=
−
[
5
η
(
25
τ
)
η
(
5
τ
)
]
6
−
11
,
z
0
=
−
[
η
(
τ
)
η
(
5
τ
)
]
6
−
11
,
z
1
=
[
η
(
5
τ
+
2
5
)
η
(
5
τ
)
]
6
−
11
,
z
2
=
−
[
η
(
5
τ
+
4
5
)
η
(
5
τ
)
]
6
−
11
,
z
3
=
[
η
(
5
τ
+
6
5
)
η
(
5
τ
)
]
6
−
11
,
z
4
=
−
[
η
(
5
τ
+
8
5
)
η
(
5
τ
)
]
6
−
11
which in fact is the j-invariant of the elliptic curve,
y
2
+
(
1
+
r
5
)
x
y
+
r
5
y
=
x
3
+
r
5
x
2
parameterized by the non-cusp points of the modular curve
X
1
(
5
)
.
For convenience, one can also use the notation
r
(
τ
)
=
R
(
q
)
when q = e2πiτ. While other modular functions like the j-invariant satisfies,
j
(
−
1
τ
)
=
j
(
τ
)
and the Dedekind eta function has,
η
(
−
1
τ
)
=
−
i
τ
η
(
τ
)
the functional equation of the Rogers–Ramanujan continued fraction involves the golden ratio
ϕ
,
r
(
−
1
τ
)
=
1
−
ϕ
r
(
τ
)
ϕ
+
r
(
τ
)
Incidentally,
r
(
7
+
i
10
)
=
i
There are modular equations between
R
(
q
)
and
R
(
q
n
)
. Elegant ones for small prime n are as follows.
For
n
=
2
, let
u
=
R
(
q
)
and
v
=
R
(
q
2
)
, then
v
−
u
2
=
(
v
+
u
2
)
u
v
2
.
For
n
=
3
, let
u
=
R
(
q
)
and
v
=
R
(
q
3
)
, then
(
v
−
u
3
)
(
1
+
u
v
3
)
=
3
u
2
v
2
.
For
n
=
5
, let
u
=
R
(
q
)
and
v
=
R
(
q
5
)
, then
(
v
4
−
3
v
3
+
4
v
2
−
2
v
+
1
)
v
=
(
v
4
+
2
v
3
+
4
v
2
+
3
v
+
1
)
u
5
.
For
n
=
11
, let
u
=
R
(
q
)
and
v
=
R
(
q
11
)
, then
u
v
(
u
10
+
11
u
5
−
1
)
(
v
10
+
11
v
5
−
1
)
=
(
u
−
v
)
12
.
Regarding
n
=
5
, note that
v
10
+
11
v
5
−
1
=
(
v
2
+
v
−
1
)
(
v
4
−
3
v
3
+
4
v
2
−
2
v
+
1
)
(
v
4
+
2
v
3
+
4
v
2
+
3
v
+
1
)
.
Ramanujan found many other interesting results regarding R(q). Let
u
=
R
(
q
a
)
,
v
=
R
(
q
b
)
, and
ϕ
as the golden ratio.
If
a
b
=
4
π
2
, then
(
u
+
ϕ
)
(
v
+
ϕ
)
=
5
ϕ
.
If
5
a
b
=
4
π
2
, then
(
u
5
+
ϕ
5
)
(
v
5
+
ϕ
5
)
=
5
5
ϕ
5
.
The powers of R(q) also can be expressed in unusual ways. For its cube,
R
3
(
q
)
=
α
β
where,
α
=
∑
n
=
0
∞
q
2
n
1
−
q
5
n
+
2
−
∑
n
=
0
∞
q
3
n
+
1
1
−
q
5
n
+
3
β
=
∑
n
=
0
∞
q
n
1
−
q
5
n
+
1
−
∑
n
=
0
∞
q
4
n
+
3
1
−
q
5
n
+
4
For its fifth power, let
w
=
R
(
q
)
R
2
(
q
2
)
, then,
R
5
(
q
)
=
w
(
1
−
w
1
+
w
)
2
,
R
5
(
q
2
)
=
w
2
(
1
+
w
1
−
w
)