Duality for finite multiple harmonic \(q\)-series (Q2570102)

The author defines two finite multiple \(q\)-analogs of harmonic series that contain an arbitrary number of free parameters. The actual definitions are too complicated to be described in a brief review. The main theorem consists of identities expressing these \(q\)-analogs in terms of multiply nested sums involving the Gaussian binomial coefficients. When all the parameter are equal to 1, these reduce to known identities. When there is only one parameter, the result is an identity for the divisor generating function that is connected to a problem in sorting theory. The author points out that the general case can be viewed as a duality result, reminiscent of the duality relation for the ordinary multiple zeta function.