Transcendence of \(L(1,\chi_s)/\pi\) in positive characteristic. A simple automata-style proof (Q6172256)

Let \(p\) be a prime number and \(b\) be an integer. Set \(q=p^b\). Let \(\mathbb F_q\) be a finite field with \(q\) elements. Let \(\mathbb F_q[T]\) be the ring of polynomials over \(\mathbb F_q\) and \(\mathbb F_q(T)\) be the fractional field of \(\mathbb F_q[T]\). Let \(\{ u_n\}_{n\geq 0}\) be a sequence of elements from \(\mathbb F_q\). The authors prove that the formal Laurent series \(\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac {u_n}{T^n}\) is algebraic over \(\mathbb F_q(T)\) if and only if \(\{ (u(q^kn+d))_{n\geq 0} \mid k\geq 0, 0\leq d\leq q^k\}\) is finite. The proof is in the spirit of automata-style. They also demonstrate this kind of proof on other results.