A new property of partitions with applications to the Rogers-Ramanujan identities (Q2545535)

The order of a partition \(\pi\) (relative to \(N\)) is defined as the largest \(i\) for which the number of summands of \(\pi\) in the closed interval \([i, i+N-1]\) is at least \(i\). It is shown here that the generating function for partitions of order \(n\) with distinct parts each not exceeding \(2N\) is \[ (-xq;q)_{n-1}x^nq^{n(3n-1)/2}{N\brack n}(1+xq^{2n})(-xq^{n+N+1};q)_{n-n}, \] where \((aq;q)_n=(1-a)(1-aq)\dots(1-aq^{n-1}\), and \({N\brack n}=(q)_N/(q)_n(q)_{N-n}\). This result is used to prove an identity of importance in the study of identities of the Rogers-Ramanujan type.