Journal of the
Korean Mathematical Society JKMS

Zagier introduced the term ``strange identity" to describe an asymptotic relation between a certain $q$-hypergeometric series and a partial theta function at roots of unity. We show that behind Zagier's strange identity lies a statement about Bailey pairs. Using the iterative machinery of Bailey pairs then leads to many families of multisum strange identities, including Hikami's generalization of Zagier's identity.

Keywords: Bailey pairs, strange identities, Rogers-Ramanujan identities

MSC numbers: 11F37, 11P84, 33D15