Off-shell scalar products for the $XXZ$ spin chain with open boundaries

Abstract: In this work we study scalar products of Bethe vectors associated with the $XXZ$ spin chain with open boundary conditions. The scalar products are obtained as solutions of a system of functional equations. The description of scalar products through functional relations follows from a particular map having the reflection algebra as its domain and a function space as the codomain. Within this approach we find a multiple contour integral representation for the scalar products in which the homogeneous limit can be obtained trivially.