A bijective proof of a limiting case of Watson's \(_8\phi_7\) transformation formula (Q1039650)

\textit{G. E. Andrews} [Pac. J. Math. 41, 563--578 (1972; Zbl 0219.10021)] gave a combinatorial proof of the Rogers-Fine identity [L. J. Rogers, Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. (2) 16, 315--336 (1917; JFM 46.0109.01), Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. 34, 616--618 (1948; Zbl 0031.34801)]. In this paper, the authors present a combinatorial proof of a special case of Watson's \(_8 \phi_7\) transformation formula, which is a generalization of Andrews' proof. For \(a\in\mathbb{C}\) and \(|q|<1\) let \[ (a)_0:=(a;q)_0:=1, \] \[ (a)_n:=(a;q)_n:=\prod_{k=0}^{n-1}(1-aq^k),\quad n\geq 1. \] The authors prove \[ \sum_{n=0}^\infty\frac{(\alpha)_n(\beta\gamma/\alpha\tau)_n\tau^n}{(\beta)_n(\gamma q)_n}=\sum_{n=0}^\infty\frac{(1-\alpha\tau q^{2n})(\alpha)_n(\alpha\tau q/\beta)_n(\alpha\tau/\gamma)_nq^{n(n-1)/2}(-\frac{\beta\gamma}{\alpha})^n}{(\beta)_n(\gamma q)_n(\tau)_{n+1}}. \]