Distribution theory of algebraic numbers (Q1004523)

This book is devoted to the analogues of Nevanlinna's theory in Diophantine approximation. The title of the book is the number theoretic counterpart to the well-known value distribution theory in complex analysis. A remarkable feature of this book is that it starts at a basic level, introducing the fundamental concepts from scratch, without proofs for the classical ones but with relevant references to more basic books for complete proofs. The authors reach gradually the most advanced recent results on qualitative and quantitative relations of algebraic numbers distributed in spaces. The first chapters are indeed parts of the classical background of more elementary standard courses, including groups, rings, ideals, valuations, polynomials, field extensions, norm, trace, discriminants, different, absolute values, Minkowski geometry of numbers. A chapter on algebraic geometry provides the necessary background on Hermitian geometry, algebraic curves, sheaves and vector bundles, schemes, and ends with Kobayashi hyperbolicity. The fundamental tool for the main topic of the book is the height, which plays in Vojta's dictionary the role of the characteristic functions in Nevanlinna's theory. A chapter is devoted to the definitions of heights in various contexts and to their basic properties: heights of points on projective spaces, of polynomials, on varieties, connection with Weil functions. This chapter also includes an introduction to Arakelov theory and ends with the canonical heights on abelian varieties. The next four chapters are the core of the book: they deal respectively with the \(abc\) conjecture, Roth's Theorem, Subspace theorems and Vojta's conjectures. The generalisations of the \(abc\) conjecture are counterparts of Nevanlinna's third main theorem in value distribution theory. The similarity between the \(2\) in Nevanlinna's defect relation and the exponent \(2\) in Roth's Theorem was first pointed out by C. F.~Osgood and this is how all the subject started. In Vojta's dictionary, the second main theorem of H.~Cartan corresponds to the Subspace Theorem of W. M.~Schmidt. The last chapter is an elementary introduction to \(L\)-functions, starting with Dirichlet series and including the Dedekind zeta function, modular functions, modular forms, Hasse-Weil \(L\)-functions and \(L\)-functions of varieties. This book can serve for a course at different levels: the first part can be taught at a more elementary level and can provide a strong motivation for going further, giving the desire to the students to learn more on the topic and see how these tools are used in the theory. The second part is well suited for a more advanced course: the students who need to complete their own background can do it by themselves by looking at the first part if they need it. Reviewer's remark: Section 4.2.2 and Lemma 4.22 are called mistakenly Gel'fand's inequality; the authors refer to Prop. B.7.3 of [\textit{M. Hindry, J. H. Silverman}, Diophantine geometry. An introduction. Graduate Texts in Mathematics. 201 (New York), NY: Springer (2000; Zbl 0948.11023)] which is the source of this mistake. This result should be called Gel'fond's inequality, as it is due to Alexander Osipovich Gel'fond: see Chap. III, \S~4, Lemma II of [\textit{A. O. Gel'fond}, Transcendental and algebraic numbers. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. VII, 190 p. (1960; Zbl 0090.26103)].