Mellin space reflections, modularity of elliptic Gamma functions and beyond

Abstract

We study modular transformation formulas from the viewpoint of Mellin space. The basic observation is that the functional relation between the Hurwitz zeta function and the polylogarithm can be used to organize modular transformations as reflection identities of Mellin kernels, while the accompanying polynomial anomalies arise from contour deformations. We first illustrate this mechanism for the $q$-$θ$ function and then extend it to the elliptic Gamma function. In the latter case, independently Mellin transforming the two elliptic directions leads to a trilinear reflection identity relating the three elliptic Gamma functions appearing in the SL$(3,\mathbb{Z})$ modular formula, while the associated contour deformation reproduces the cubic Bernoulli polynomial. Further reflection formulas lead to a weighted $q$-Pochhammer type function with a modular transformation analogous to that of the $q$-$θ$ function, as well as a transposed trilinear reflection identity analogous to the Mellin space structure underlying the SL$(3,\mathbb{Z})$ transformation. Our results suggest that Mellin space reflection identities provide a useful organizing principle for constructing and studying modular special functions beyond the standard multiple elliptic Gamma hierarchy.