On a nonlinear relation for computing the overpartition function

Abstract

In 1939, H. S. Zuckerman provided a Hardy-Ramanujan-Rademacher-type convergent series that can be used to compute an isolated value of the overpartition function $\overline{p}(n)$. Computing $\overline{p}(n)$ by this method requires arithmetic with very high-precision approximate real numbers and it is complicated. In this paper, we provide a formula to compute the values of $\overline{p}(n)$ that requires only the values of $\overline{p}(k)$ with $k⩽n/2$. This formula is combined with a known linear homogeneous recurrence relation for the overpartition function $\overline{p}(n)$ to obtain a simple and fast computation of the value of $\overline{p}(n)$. This new method uses only (large) integer arithmetic and it is simpler to program.