Lens Generalisation of $\tau$-functions for the Elliptic Discrete Painlevé Equation

We propose a new bilinear Hirota equation for $\tau$-functions associated with the $E_8$ root lattice, that provides a "lens" generalisation of the $\tau$-functions for the elliptic discrete Painlev\'e equation. Our equations are characterized by a positive integer $r$ in addition to the usual elliptic parameters, and involve a mixture of continuous variables with additional discrete variables, the latter taking values on the $E_8$ root lattice. We construct explicit $W(E_7)$-invariant hypergeometric solutions of this bilinear Hirota equation, which are given in terms of elliptic hypergeometric sum/integrals.