Relations between the ranks and cranks of partitions (Q1417942)

The rank of a partition is the largest part minus the number of parts. The crank is the largest part if the partition contains no ones, and is otherwise the number of parts larger than the number of ones minus the number of ones. If \(N(m, n)\) is the number of partitions of \(n\) with rank \(m\), and \(M(m, n)\) the number with crank \(m\), then the partition function \(p(n)\) is given by each sum \(\sum_m N(m,n)\) and \(\sum_m M(m,n)\). The authors provide generating functions \(R(z, q)\) and \(C(z, q)\) for \(N(m, n)\) and \(M(m, n)\), respectively, and show they are related through a partial differential equation that leads to new identities and congruences involving ranks and cranks.