Ramanujan–Sato series

In mathematics, a Ramanujan–Sato series^[1]^[2] generalizes Ramanujan’s pi formulas such as,

{\frac {1}{\pi }}={\frac {2{\sqrt {2}}}{99^{2}}}\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }{\frac {(4k)!}{k!^{4}}}{\frac {26390k+1103}{396^{4k}}}

to the form,

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s(k){\frac {Ak+B}{C^{k}}}

by using other well-defined sequences of integers $s(k)$ obeying a certain recurrence relation, sequences which may be expressed in terms of binomial coefficients ${\tbinom {n}{k}}$ , and employing modular forms of higher levels.

Ramanujan made the enigmatic remark that there were "corresponding theories", but it was only recently that H.H. Chan and S. Cooper found a general approach that used the underlying modular congruence subgroup $\Gamma _{0}(n)$ ,^[3] while G. Almkvist has experimentally found numerous other examples also with a general method using differential operators.^[4]

Levels 1–4A were given by Ramanujan (1917),^[5] level 5 by H.H. Chan and S. Cooper (2012),^[3] 6A by Chan, Tanigawa, Yang, and Zudilin,^[6] 6B by Sato (2002),^[7] 6C by H. Chan, S. Chan, and Z. Liu (2004),^[1] 6D by H. Chan and H. Verrill (2009),^[8] level 7 by S. Cooper (2012),^[9] part of level 8 by Almkvist and Guillera (2012),^[2] part of level 10 by Y. Yang, and the rest by H.H. Chan and S.Cooper.

The notation j_n(τ) is derived from Zagier^[10] and T_n refers to the relevant McKay–Thompson series.

Level 1

Examples for levels 1–4 were given by Ramanujan in his 1917 paper. Given $q=e^{2\pi i\tau }$ as in the rest of this article. Let,

{\begin{aligned}j(\tau )&={\Big (}{\tfrac {E_{4}(\tau )}{\eta ^{8}(\tau )}}{\Big )}^{3}={\tfrac {1}{q}}+744+196884q+21493760q^{2}+\dots \\j^{*}(\tau )&=432\,{\frac {{\sqrt {j(\tau )}}+{\sqrt {j(\tau )-1728}}}{{\sqrt {j(\tau )}}-{\sqrt {j(\tau )-1728}}}}={\tfrac {1}{q}}-120+10260q-901120q^{2}+\dots \end{aligned}}

with the j-function j(τ), Eisenstein series E₄, and Dedekind eta function η(τ). The first expansion is the McKay–Thompson series of class 1A ( A007240) with a(0) = 744. Note that, as first noticed by J. McKay, the coefficient of the linear term of j(τ) is exceedingly close to $196883$ which is the smallest degree > 1 of the irreducible representations of the Monster group. Similar phenomena will be observed in the other levels. Define,

s_{1A}(k)={\tbinom {2k}{k}}{\tbinom {3k}{k}}{\tbinom {6k}{3k}}=1,120,83160,81681600,\dots

(

A001421)

s_{1B}(k)=\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}{\tbinom {3j}{j}}{\tbinom {6j}{3j}}{\tbinom {k+j}{k-j}}(-432)^{k-j}=1,-312,114264,-44196288,\dots

Then the two modular functions and sequences are related by,

\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{1A}(k)\,{\frac {1}{(j(\tau ))^{k+1/2}}}=\pm \sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{1B}(k)\,{\frac {1}{(j^{*}(\tau ))^{k+1/2}}}

if the series converges and the sign chosen appropriately, though squaring both sides easily removes the ambiguity. Analogous relationships exist for the higher levels.

Examples:

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=12\,{\boldsymbol {i}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{1A}(k)\,{\frac {163\cdot 3344418k+13591409}{(-640320^{3})^{k+1/2}}},\quad j{\Big (}{\tfrac {1+{\sqrt {-163}}}{2}}{\Big )}=-640320^{3}

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=24\,{\boldsymbol {i}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{1B}(k)\,{\frac {-3669+320{\sqrt {645}}\,(k+{\tfrac {1}{2}})}{{\big (}{-432}\,U_{645}^{3}{\big )}^{k+1/2}}},\quad j^{*}{\Big (}{\tfrac {1+{\sqrt {-43}}}{2}}{\Big )}=-432\,U_{645}^{3}=-432{\Big (}{\tfrac {127+5{\sqrt {645}}}{2}}{\Big )}^{3}

and $U_{n}$ is a fundamental unit. The first belongs to a family of formulas which were rigorously proven by the Chudnovsky brothers in 1989^[11] and later used to calculate 10 trillion digits of π in 2011.^[12] The second formula, and the ones for higher levels, was established by H.H. Chan and S. Cooper in 2012.^[3]

Level 2

Using Zagier’s notation^[10] for the modular function of level 2,

{\begin{aligned}j_{2A}(\tau )&={\Big (}{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )}{\eta (2\tau )}}{\big )}^{12}+2^{6}{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (2\tau )}{\eta (\tau )}}{\big )}^{12}{\Big )}^{2}={\tfrac {1}{q}}+104+4372q+96256q^{2}+1240002q^{3}+\cdots \\j_{2B}(\tau )&={\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )}{\eta (2\tau )}}{\big )}^{24}={\tfrac {1}{q}}-24+276q-2048q^{2}+11202q^{3}-\cdots \end{aligned}}

Note that the coefficient of the linear term of j_2A(τ) is one more than $4371$ which is the smallest degree > 1 of the irreducible representations of the Baby Monster group. Define,

s_{2A}(k)={\tbinom {2k}{k}}{\tbinom {2k}{k}}{\tbinom {4k}{2k}}=1,24,2520,369600,63063000,\dots

(

A008977)

s_{2B}(k)=\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}{\tbinom {4j}{2j}}{\tbinom {k+j}{k-j}}(-64)^{k-j}=1,-40,2008,-109120,6173656,\dots

Then,

\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{2A}(k)\,{\frac {1}{(j_{2A}(\tau ))^{k+1/2}}}=\pm \sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{2B}(k)\,{\frac {1}{(j_{2B}(\tau ))^{k+1/2}}}

if the series converges and the sign chosen appropriately.

Examples:

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=32{\sqrt {2}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{2A}(k)\,{\frac {58\cdot 455k+1103}{(396^{4})^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{2A}{\Big (}{\tfrac {1}{2}}{\sqrt {-58}}{\Big )}=396^{4}

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=16{\sqrt {2}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{2B}(k)\,{\frac {-24184+9801{\sqrt {29}}\,(k+{\tfrac {1}{2}})}{(64\,U_{29}^{12})^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{2B}{\Big (}{\tfrac {1}{2}}{\sqrt {-58}}{\Big )}=64{\Big (}{\tfrac {5+{\sqrt {29}}}{2}}{\Big )}^{12}=64\,U_{29}^{12}

The first formula, found by Ramanujan and mentioned at the start of the article, belongs to a family proven by D. Bailey and the Borwein brothers in a 1989 paper.^[13]

Level 3

Define,

{\begin{aligned}j_{3A}(\tau )&={\Big (}{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )}{\eta (3\tau )}}{\big )}^{6}+3^{3}{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (3\tau )}{\eta (\tau )}}{\big )}^{6}{\Big )}^{2}={\tfrac {1}{q}}+42+783q+8672q^{2}+65367q^{3}+\dots \\j_{3B}(\tau )&={\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )}{\eta (3\tau )}}{\big )}^{12}={\tfrac {1}{q}}-12+54q-76q^{2}-243q^{3}+1188q^{4}+\dots \\\end{aligned}}

where $782$ is the smallest degree > 1 of the irreducible representations of the Fischer group Fi₂₃ and,

s_{3A}(k)={\tbinom {2k}{k}}{\tbinom {2k}{k}}{\tbinom {3k}{k}}=1,12,540,33600,2425500,\dots

(

A184423)

s_{3B}(k)=\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}{\tbinom {3j}{j}}{\tbinom {k+j}{k-j}}(-27)^{k-j}=1,-15,297,-6495,149481,\dots

Examples:

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=2\,{\boldsymbol {i}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{3A}(k)\,{\frac {267\cdot 53k+827}{(-300^{3})^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{3A}{\Big (}{\tfrac {3+{\sqrt {-267}}}{6}}{\Big )}=-300^{3}

{\frac {1}{\pi }}={\boldsymbol {i}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{3B}(k)\,{\frac {12497-3000{\sqrt {89}}\,(k+{\tfrac {1}{2}})}{(-27\,U_{89}^{2})^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{3B}{\Big (}{\tfrac {3+{\sqrt {-267}}}{6}}{\Big )}=-27\,{\big (}500+53{\sqrt {89}}{\big )}^{2}=-27\,U_{89}^{2}

Level 4

Define,

{\begin{aligned}j_{4A}(\tau )&={\Big (}{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )}{\eta (4\tau )}}{\big )}^{4}+4^{2}{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (4\tau )}{\eta (\tau )}}{\big )}^{4}{\Big )}^{2}={\Big (}{\tfrac {\eta ^{2}(2\tau )}{\eta (\tau )\,\eta (4\tau )}}{\Big )}^{24}={\tfrac {1}{q}}+24+276q+2048q^{2}+11202q^{3}+\dots \\j_{4C}(\tau )&={\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )}{\eta (4\tau )}}{\big )}^{8}={\tfrac {1}{q}}-8+20q-62q^{3}+216q^{5}-641q^{7}+\dots \\\end{aligned}}

where the first is the 24th power of the Weber modular function ${\mathfrak {f}}(\tau )$ . And,

s_{4A}(k)={\tbinom {2k}{k}}^{3}=1,8,216,8000,343000,\dots

(

A002897)

s_{4C}(k)=\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}^{3}{\tbinom {k+j}{k-j}}(-16)^{k-j}=(-1)^{k}\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}^{2}{\tbinom {2k-2j}{k-j}}^{2}=1,-8,88,-1088,14296,\dots

(

A036917)

Examples:

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=8\,{\boldsymbol {i}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{4A}(k)\,{\frac {6k+1}{(-2^{9})^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{4A}{\Big (}{\tfrac {1+{\sqrt {-4}}}{2}}{\Big )}=-2^{9}

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=16\,{\boldsymbol {i}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{4C}(k)\,{\frac {1-2{\sqrt {2}}\,(k+{\tfrac {1}{2}})}{(-16\,U_{2}^{4})^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{4C}{\Big (}{\tfrac {1+{\sqrt {-4}}}{2}}{\Big )}=-16\,{\big (}1+{\sqrt {2}}{\big )}^{4}=-16\,U_{2}^{4}

Level 5

Define,

{\begin{aligned}j_{5A}(\tau )&={\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )}{\eta (5\tau )}}{\big )}^{6}+5^{3}{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (5\tau )}{\eta (\tau )}}{\big )}^{6}+22={\tfrac {1}{q}}+16+134q+760q^{2}+3345q^{3}+\dots \\j_{5B}(\tau )&={\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )}{\eta (5\tau )}}{\big )}^{6}={\tfrac {1}{q}}-6+9q+10q^{2}-30q^{3}+6q^{4}+\dots \end{aligned}}

and,

s_{5A}(k)={\tbinom {2k}{k}}\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {k}{j}}^{2}{\tbinom {k+j}{j}}=1,6,114,2940,87570,\dots

s_{5B}(k)=\sum _{j=0}^{k}(-1)^{j+k}{\tbinom {k}{j}}^{3}{\tbinom {4k-5j}{3k}}=1,-5,35,-275,2275,-19255,\dots

(

A229111)

where the first is the product of the central binomial coefficients and the Apéry numbers ( A005258)^[9]

Examples:

{\frac {1}{\pi }}={\frac {5}{9}}\,{\boldsymbol {i}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{5A}(k)\,{\frac {682k+71}{(-15228)^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{5A}{\Big (}{\tfrac {5+{\sqrt {-5(47)}}}{10}}{\Big )}=-15228=-(18{\sqrt {47}})^{2}

{\frac {1}{\pi }}={\frac {6}{\sqrt {5}}}\,{\boldsymbol {i}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{5B}(k)\,{\frac {25{\sqrt {5}}-141(k+{\tfrac {1}{2}})}{(-5{\sqrt {5}}\,U_{5}^{15})^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{5B}{\Big (}{\tfrac {5+{\sqrt {-5(47)}}}{10}}{\Big )}=-5{\sqrt {5}}\,{\big (}{\tfrac {1+{\sqrt {5}}}{2}}{\big )}^{15}=-5{\sqrt {5}}\,U_{5}^{15}

Level 6

Modular functions

In 2002, Sato^[7] established the first results for level > 4. Interestingly, it involved Apéry numbers which were first used to establish the irrationality of $\zeta (3)$ . First, define,

{\begin{aligned}j_{6A}(\tau )&=j_{6B}(\tau )+{\tfrac {1}{j_{6B}(\tau )}}+2=j_{6C}(\tau )+{\tfrac {64}{j_{6C}(\tau )}}+20=j_{6D}(\tau )+{\tfrac {81}{j_{6D}(\tau )}}+18={\tfrac {1}{q}}+14+79q+352q^{2}+\dots \end{aligned}}

{\begin{aligned}j_{6B}(\tau )&={\Big (}{\tfrac {\eta (2\tau )\eta (3\tau )}{\eta (\tau )\eta (6\tau )}}{\Big )}^{12}={\tfrac {1}{q}}+12+78q+364q^{2}+1365q^{3}+\dots \end{aligned}}

{\begin{aligned}j_{6C}(\tau )&={\Big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )\eta (3\tau )}{\eta (2\tau )\eta (6\tau )}}{\Big )}^{6}={\tfrac {1}{q}}-6+15q-32q^{2}+87q^{3}-192q^{4}+\dots \end{aligned}}

{\begin{aligned}j_{6D}(\tau )&={\Big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )\eta (2\tau )}{\eta (3\tau )\eta (6\tau )}}{\Big )}^{4}={\tfrac {1}{q}}-4-2q+28q^{2}-27q^{3}-52q^{4}+\dots \end{aligned}}

{\begin{aligned}j_{6E}(\tau )&={\Big (}{\tfrac {\eta (2\tau )\eta ^{3}(3\tau )}{\eta (\tau )\eta ^{3}(6\tau )}}{\Big )}^{3}={\tfrac {1}{q}}+3+6q+4q^{2}-3q^{3}-12q^{4}+\dots \end{aligned}}

J. Conway and S. Norton showed^[14] there are linear relations between the McKay–Thompson series T_n, one of which was,

T_{6A}-T_{6B}-T_{6C}-T_{6D}+2T_{6E}=0

or using the above eta quotients j_n,

j_{6A}-j_{6B}-j_{6C}-j_{6D}+2j_{6E}=18

σ Sequences

For the modular function j_6A, one can associate it with three different sequences. Define the number of 2n-step polygons on a cubic lattice, or the product of the central binomial coefficients $c(k)={\tbinom {2k}{k}}$ and A002893 as σ₁(k),

\sigma _{1}(k)={\tbinom {2k}{k}}\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {k}{j}}^{2}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}=1,6,90,1860,44730,\dots

(

A002896)

the product of c(k) and (-1)^k A093388 as σ₂(k),

\sigma _{2}(k)={\tbinom {2k}{k}}\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {k}{j}}(-8)^{k-j}\sum _{m=0}^{j}{\tbinom {j}{m}}^{3}=1,-12,252,-6240,167580,-4726512,\dots

and the product of c(k) and Franel numbers as σ₃(k),

\sigma _{3}(k)={\tbinom {2k}{k}}\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {k}{j}}^{3}=1,4,60,1120,24220,\dots

(

A181418)

Each has a companion sequence. Respectively, these are the Apéry numbers,

s_{6B}(k)=\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {k}{j}}^{2}{\tbinom {k+j}{j}}^{2}=1,5,73,1445,33001,\dots

(

A005259)

the Domb numbers (unsigned), or the number of 2n-step polygons on a diamond lattice,

s_{6C}(k)=(-1)^{k}\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {k}{j}}^{2}{\tbinom {2(k-j)}{k-j}}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}=1,-4,28,-256,2716,\dots

(

A002895)

and the Almkvist-Zudilin numbers,

s_{6D}(k)=\sum _{j=0}^{k}(-1)^{k-j}\,3^{k-3j}\,{\tfrac {(3j)!}{j!^{3}}}{\tbinom {k}{3j}}{\tbinom {k+j}{j}}=1,-3,9,-3,-279,2997,\dots

(

A125143)

Identities

The modular functions can be related as $P=Q=R$ where,

{\begin{aligned}P&=\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }\sigma _{1}(k)\,{\frac {1}{(j_{6A}(\tau ))^{k+1/2}}}=\pm \sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{6B}(k)\,{\frac {1}{(j_{6B}(\tau ))^{k+1/2}}}\\Q&=\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }\sigma _{2}(k)\,{\frac {1}{(j_{6A}(\tau )-36)^{k+1/2}}}=\pm \sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{6C}(k)\,{\frac {1}{(j_{6C}(\tau ))^{k+1/2}}}\\R&=\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }\sigma _{3}(k)\,{\frac {1}{(j_{6A}(\tau )-4)^{k+1/2}}}=\pm \sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{6D}(k)\,{\frac {1}{(j_{6D}(\tau ))^{k+1/2}}}\end{aligned}}

if the series converges and the sign chosen appropriately.

Examples

One can use a value for j_6A in three ways. For example, starting with,

j_{6A}{\Big (}{\sqrt {\tfrac {-3}{6}}}{\Big )}=10^{2}

then,

{\begin{aligned}{\frac {1}{\pi }}&={\frac {\sqrt {3}}{5^{2}}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }\sigma _{1}(k)\,{\frac {16k+3}{(10^{2})^{k}}}\\{\frac {1}{\pi }}&={\frac {\sqrt {3}}{2^{3}}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }\sigma _{2}(k)\,{\frac {10k+3}{(10^{2}-36)^{k}}}\\{\frac {1}{\pi }}&={\frac {1}{3{\sqrt {2}}}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }\sigma _{3}(k)\,{\frac {5k+1}{(10^{2}-4)^{k}}}\\\end{aligned}}

For the other modular functions,

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=8{\sqrt {15}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{6B}(k)\,{\Big (}{\tfrac {1}{2}}-{\tfrac {3{\sqrt {5}}}{20}}+k{\Big )}{\Big (}{\frac {1}{\phi ^{12}}}{\Big )}^{k+1/2},\quad j_{6B}{\Big (}{\sqrt {\tfrac {-5}{6}}}{\Big )}={\Big (}{\tfrac {1+{\sqrt {5}}}{2}}{\Big )}^{12}=\phi ^{12}

{\frac {1}{\pi }}={\frac {1}{2}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{6C}(k)\,{\frac {3k+1}{32^{k}}},\quad j_{6C}{\Big (}{\sqrt {\tfrac {-1}{3}}}{\Big )}=32

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=2{\sqrt {3}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{6D}(k)\,{\frac {4k+1}{81^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{6D}{\Big (}{\sqrt {\tfrac {-1}{2}}}{\Big )}=81

Level 7

Define

s_{7A}(k)=\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {k}{j}}^{2}{\tbinom {2j}{k}}{\tbinom {k+j}{j}}=1,4,48,760,13840,\dots

(

A183204)

and,

{\begin{aligned}j_{7A}(\tau )&={\Big (}{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )}{\eta (7\tau )}}{\big )}^{2}+7{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (7\tau )}{\eta (\tau )}}{\big )}^{2}{\Big )}^{2}={\tfrac {1}{q}}+10+51q+204q^{2}+681q^{3}+\dots \\j_{7B}(\tau )&={\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )}{\eta (7\tau )}}{\big )}^{4}={\tfrac {1}{q}}-4+2q+8q^{2}-5q^{3}-4q^{4}-10q^{5}+\dots \end{aligned}}

Example:

{\frac {1}{\pi }}={\frac {3}{22^{3}}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{7A}(k)\,{\frac {11895k+1286}{(-22^{3})^{k}}},\quad j_{7A}{\Big (}{\tfrac {7+{\sqrt {-427}}}{14}}{\Big )}=-22^{3}+1=-(39{\sqrt {7}})^{2}

No pi formula has yet been found using j_7B.

Level 8

Define,

{\begin{aligned}j_{4B}(\tau )&={\big (}j_{2A}(2\tau ){\big )}^{1/2}={\tfrac {1}{q}}+52q+834q^{3}+4760q^{5}+24703q^{7}+\dots \\&={\Big (}{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )\,\eta ^{2}(4\tau )}{\eta ^{2}(2\tau )\,\eta (8\tau )}}{\big )}^{4}+4{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta ^{2}(2\tau )\,\eta (8\tau )}{\eta (\tau )\,\eta ^{2}(4\tau )}}{\big )}^{4}{\Big )}^{2}={\Big (}{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (2\tau )\,\eta (4\tau )}{\eta (\tau )\,\eta (8\tau )}}{\big )}^{4}-4{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )\,\eta (8\tau )}{\eta (2\tau )\,\eta ^{2}(\tau )}}{\big )}^{4}{\Big )}^{2}\\j_{8A'}(\tau )&={\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )\,\eta ^{2}(4\tau )}{\eta ^{2}(2\tau )\,\eta (8\tau )}}{\big )}^{8}={\tfrac {1}{q}}-8+36q-128q^{2}+386q^{3}-1024q^{4}+\dots \\j_{8A}(\tau )&={\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (2\tau )\,\eta (4\tau )}{\eta (\tau )\,\eta (8\tau )}}{\big )}^{8}={\tfrac {1}{q}}+8+36q+128q^{2}+386q^{3}+1024q^{4}+\dots .\\\end{aligned}}

The expansion of the first is the McKay–Thompson series of class 4B (and is a square root of another function) while the second, if unsigned, is that of class 8A given by the third. Let,

s_{4B}(k)={\tbinom {2k}{k}}\sum _{j=0}^{k}4^{k-2j}{\tbinom {k}{2j}}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}^{2}={\tbinom {2k}{k}}\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {k}{j}}{\tbinom {2k-2j}{k-j}}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}=1,8,120,2240,47320,\dots

s_{8A'}(k)=\sum _{j=0}^{k}(-1)^{k}{\tbinom {k}{j}}^{2}{\tbinom {2j}{k}}^{2}=1,-4,40,-544,8536,\dots

where the first is the product^[2] of the central binomial coefficient and a sequence related to an arithmetic-geometric mean ( A081085),

Examples:

{\frac {1}{\pi }}={\frac {2{\sqrt {2}}}{13}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{4B}(k)\,{\frac {70\cdot 99\,k+579}{(16+396^{2})^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{4B}{\Big (}{\tfrac {1}{4}}{\sqrt {-58}}{\Big )}=396^{2}

{\frac {1}{\pi }}={\frac {\sqrt {-2}}{70}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{4B}(k)\,{\frac {58\cdot 13\cdot 99\,k+6243}{(16-396^{2})^{k+1/2}}}

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=2{\sqrt {2}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{8A'}(k)\,{\frac {-222+377{\sqrt {2}}\,(k+{\tfrac {1}{2}})}{{\big (}4(1+{\sqrt {2}})^{12}{\big )}^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{8A'}{\Big (}{\tfrac {1}{4}}{\sqrt {-58}}{\Big )}=4(1+{\sqrt {2}})^{12},\quad j_{8A}{\Big (}{\tfrac {1}{4}}{\sqrt {-58}}{\Big )}=4(99+13{\sqrt {58}})^{2}=4U_{58}^{2}

though no pi formula is yet known using j_8A(τ).

Level 9

Define,

{\begin{aligned}j_{3C}(\tau )&={\big (}j(3\tau ))^{1/3}=-6+{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta ^{2}(3\tau )}{\eta (\tau )\,\eta (9\tau )}}{\big )}^{6}-27{\big (}{\tfrac {\eta (\tau )\,\eta (9\tau )}{\eta ^{2}(3\tau )}}{\big )}^{6}={\tfrac {1}{q}}+248q^{2}+4124q^{5}+34752q^{8}+\dots \\j_{9A}(\tau )&={\big (}{\tfrac {\eta ^{2}(3\tau )}{\eta (\tau )\,\eta (9\tau )}}{\big )}^{6}={\tfrac {1}{q}}+6+27q+86q^{2}+243q^{3}+594q^{4}+\dots \\\end{aligned}}

The expansion of the first is the McKay–Thompson series of class 3C (and related to the cube root of the j-function), while the second is that of class 9A. Let,

s_{3C}(k)={\tbinom {2k}{k}}\sum _{j=0}^{k}(-3)^{k-3j}{\tbinom {k}{j}}{\tbinom {k-j}{j}}{\tbinom {k-2j}{j}}={\tbinom {2k}{k}}\sum _{j=0}^{k}(-3)^{k-3j}{\tbinom {k}{3j}}{\tbinom {2j}{j}}{\tbinom {3j}{j}}=1,-6,54,-420,630,\dots

s_{9A}(k)=\sum _{j=0}^{k}{\tbinom {k}{j}}^{2}\sum _{m=0}^{j}{\tbinom {k}{m}}{\tbinom {j}{m}}{\tbinom {j+m}{k}}=1,3,27,309,4059,\dots

where the first is the product of the central binomial coefficients and A006077 (though with different signs).

Examples:

{\frac {1}{\pi }}={\frac {-{\boldsymbol {i}}}{9}}\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{3C}(k)\,{\frac {602k+85}{(-960-12)^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{3C}{\Big (}{\tfrac {3+{\sqrt {-43}}}{6}}{\Big )}=-960

{\frac {1}{\pi }}=6\,{\boldsymbol {i}}\,\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }s_{9A}(k)\,{\frac {4-{\sqrt {129}}\,(k+{\tfrac {1}{2}})}{{\big (}-3{\sqrt {3U_{129}}}{\big )}^{k+1/2}}},\quad j_{9A}{\Big (}{\tfrac {3+{\sqrt {-43}}}{6}}{\Big )}=-3{\sqrt {3}}{\big (}53{\sqrt {3}}+14{\sqrt {43}}{\big )}=-3{\sqrt {3U_{129}}}