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Abstract

In a recent study of the quantum theory of harmonic oscillators, Gerard 't Hooft proposed the following problem: given $G(z)=\sum_{n>0}\sqrt{n}z^n$ for $|z|<1$, find its analytic continuation for $|z|\ge1$, excluding a branch-cut $z\in[1,\,\infty)$. A solution is provided by the bilateral convergent sum $G(z)=\frac12\sqrt{\pi}\sum_{n\in{\mathbb Z}}(2n\pi{\rm i}-\log(z))^{-3/2}$. On the negative real axis, $G(-e^u)$ has a sign-constant asymptotic expansion in $1/u^2$, for large positive $u$. Optimal truncation leaves exponentially suppressed terms in an asymptotic expansion $e^{-u}\sum_{k\ge0}P_k(x)/u^k$, with $P_0(x)=x-\frac23$ and $P_k(x)$ of degree $2k+1$ evaluated at $x=u/2-\lfloor u/2\rfloor$. These polynomials become excellent approximations to sinusoids. The amplitude of $P_k(x)$ increases factorially with $k$ and its phase increases linearly, with $P_k(x)\sim\sin((2k+1)C-2\pi x) R^{2k+1}\Gamma(k+\frac12)/\sqrt{2\pi}$, where $C\approx1.0688539158679530121571$ and $R\approx0.5181839789815558726739$ are asymptotic constants that have been determined at 100-digit precision. Their exact values remain to be identified. This work combines results from David C. Woods, on fractional polylogarithms, with evaluations of Hurwitz zeta values by Pari/GP.