In statistical mechanics I often come across average energies of the form:
$$\begin{equation} \langle\epsilon_n\rangle=\alpha \sum_{n=0}^{\infty}n^2e^{-\alpha n^2} \end{equation}$$
where $\alpha$ is positive and by rewriting
$$\begin{equation} \langle\epsilon_n\rangle=-\alpha \partial_{\alpha}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}e^{-\alpha n^2} \end{equation}$$
However, I cannot seem to solve these kinds of sums. Is there any way to solve the sum $$\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}x^{n^2}$$ analytically?
A horrible derivation Currently looking more into it, and gained a little bit more insight, but here's somewhat of an answer, and can be used as an easy way to get a good estimation.
– Gerben Dec 05 '21 at 00:09