Algebraic independence of the values of certain series by Mahler's method (Q1207643)

Suppose that \(f_ 1(z),\dots,f_ m(z)\) are algebraically independent functions of a complex variable satisfying \(f_ i(z)=a_ i(z)f_ i(Tz)+b_ i(z)\), where \(a_ i(z)\), \(b_ i(z)\) are rational functions and \(Tz=p(z^{-1})^{-1}\) for a polynomial \(p(z)\) of degree \(d\) larger than 1. Let \(\alpha\) be an algebraic number. We show that \(f_ 1(\alpha),\dots,f_ m(\alpha)\) are algebraically independent under suitable conditions on \(f\) and \(\alpha\). The transformation \(Tz\) is a generalization of the transformation \(Tz=z^ d\), which is somehow the ``classical'' transformation in Mahler's method. As an application of our result, we deduce three corollaries, which extend earlier work by J. L. Davison and J. O. Shallit and J. Tamura. The proof of the main result is based on Philippon's criterion for algebraic indepencence.