A simple proof of Bailey's very-well-poised 6-psi-6 summation

Abstract

We give elementary derivations of some classical summation formulae for bilateral (basic) hypergeometric series. In particular, we apply Gauss' 2-F-1 summation and elementary series manipulations to give a simple proof of Dougall's 2-H-2 summation. Similarly, we apply Rogers' nonterminating 6-phi-5 summation and elementary series manipulations to give a simple proof of Bailey's very-well-poised 6-psi-6 summation. Our method of proof extends M. Jackson's first elementary proof of Ramanujan's 1-psi-1 summation.