ABSORPTION PROCESSES - MODELS FOR Q-IDENTITIES

Several extensions of Blomqvist's absorption process are presented. In herent in some of the associated distributions is a method for establi shing q-identities ranging from properties of Gaussian polynomials to product expansions of basic hypergeometric series to extensions of res ults on Mahonian statistics. One process links the comajor index to Ru ssian roulette. Also given are examples involving the Rogers-Ramanujan identities that demonstrate how q-expressions may be modeled with abs orption processes. (C) 1997 Academic Press.