Computation and theory of extended Mordell-Tornheim-Witten sums

Abstract

We consider some fundamental generalized Mordell–Tornheim–Witten (MTW) zeta-function values along with their derivatives, and explore connections with multiple-zeta values (MZVs). To achieve this, we make use of symbolic integration, high precision numerical integration, and some interesting combinatorics and special-function theory. Our original motivation was to represent unresolved constructs such as Eulerian log-gamma integrals. We are able to resolve all such integrals in terms of an MTW basis. We also present, for a substantial subset of MTW values, explicit closed-form expressions. In the process, we significantly extend methods for high-precision numerical computation of polylogarithms and their derivatives with respect to order.