Multiplication and Inversion Formulas for Higher-Order Lerch Zeta Functions with Polynomial Coefficients

Abstract

We consider the N-tuple Hurwitz-Lerch zeta function introduced by Srivastava and Choi, ζN(s,x,λ)=∑k1,…,kN≥0λk1+⋯+kN(x+k1+⋯+kN)s, where N is a positive integer and λ is a complex parameter. A central breakthrough in this work is the explicit reduction of the N-tuple function to a linear combination of single Lerch transcendents via a finite-difference identity, which naturally leads to sharp multiplication and inversion formulas. We further investigate the combinatorial structure of the underlying polynomial coefficients, establishing their symmetry, unimodality, log-concavity, and precise asymptotic behavior. As key applications, we derive new identities for higher-order Apostol-Euler and Apostol-Bernoulli polynomials. Our results unify and extend several known formulas.