Mahler measure of a non-tempered Weierstrass form (Q2288311)

The main achievement of this paper is a proof of the following equality \[ 3 \cdot m(y^2 + 4 x y + 2 y - x^3) = 8 \cdot L'(E,0) + \log(2) \] which relates the Mahler measure \(m(P) := \int_0^1 \int_0^1 \log \vert P(e^{2 \pi i \theta_1},e^{2 \pi i \theta_2}) \vert \,d\theta_1 \,d\theta_2\) of the Weierstrass form \(P := y^2 + 4 x y + 2 y - x^3\) to the special value at \(s = 0\) of the \(L\)-function \(L(E,s)\) associated to the elliptic curve \(E\) defined by \(P\). The proof of the equality above is reduced, using work of \textit{M. Rogers} and \textit{W. Zudilin} [Compos. Math. 148, No. 2, 385--414 (2012; Zbl 1260.11062)], to the proof of the following relation \[ 9 \cdot m(y^2 + 4 x y + 2 y - x^3) = 8 \cdot m( (1+u) (1+v) (u+v) + 2 u v ) + 3 \log(2) \] between the Mahler measure of \(P\) and the Mahler measure of a tempered polynomial. The notion of temperedness of a polynomial \(Q(u,v)\), introduced by \textit{F. Rodriguez Villegas} [in: Topics in number theory. In honor of B. Gordon and S. Chowla. Proceedings of the conference, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA, July 31--August 3, 1997. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 17--48 (1999; Zbl 0980.11026)], allows one to use the differential form \(\eta(u,v) := \log\lvert u \rvert d\arg(v) - \log\lvert v \rvert d\arg(u)\) to define a cohomology class on the whole elliptic curve \(E\) rather than on the complement of the set of zeros and poles of the two functions whose minimal polynomial is \(Q\). It is then a consequence of Jensen's formula, as explained by \textit{C. Deninger} [J. Am. Math. Soc. 10, No. 2, 259--281 (1997; Zbl 0913.11027)], that the Mahler measure of \(Q\) can be related to an integral of this cohomology class over a suitably chosen path. For this reason, the families of polynomials investigated in the seminal work of \textit{D. W. Boyd} [Exp. Math. 7, No. 1, 37--82 (1998; Zbl 0932.11069)] are mostly tempered. However, Boyd himself noticed that some non-tempered families might be reduced to tempered ones up to the appearance of a logarithmic term. This phenomenon has also been investigated more recently by \textit{M. Lalín} et al. [J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 93, No. 2, 341--360 (2016; Zbl 1337.11072)], \textit{M. Lalín} and \textit{T. Mittal} [Res. Number Theory 4, No. 2, Paper No. 16, 23 p. (2018; Zbl 1454.11195)], \textit{Y. Meemark} and \textit{D. Samart} [Res. Math. Sci. 7, No. 1, Paper No. 1, 20 p. (2019; Zbl 1454.11197)] and \textit{D. Samart} [``A functional identity for Mahler measures of non-tempered polynomials'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2006.09922}]. Let us finally mention that the identity between Mahler measures mentioned above is proved via a careful analysis of the integration paths and of the divisors of the functions \(x,y,u\) and \(v\). Similar techniques have been used, among others, by \textit{F. Rodriguez-Villegas} [in: Number theory for the millennium III. Proceedings of the millennial conference on number theory, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA, May 21--26, 2000. Natick, MA: A K Peters. 223--229 (2002; Zbl 1029.11054)], \textit{M. J. Bertin} [in: Number theory. Papers from the 7th conference of the Canadian Number Theory Association, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada, May 19--25, 2002. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS). 1--12 (2004; Zbl 1152.11333); J. Reine Angew. Math. 569, 175--188 (2004; Zbl 1048.11081)], \textit{N. Touafek} [An. Ştiinţ. Univ. ``Ovidius'' Constanţa, Ser. Mat. 16, No. 2, 117--126 (2008; Zbl 1174.11049)], \textit{N. Touafek} and \textit{M. Kerada} [Int. J. Contemp. Math. Sci. 4, No. 5--8, 283--292 (2009; Zbl 1276.11097)], \textit{M. N. Lalín} and \textit{M. D. Rogers} [Algebra Number Theory 1, No. 1, 87--117 (2007; Zbl 1172.11037)], \textit{M. N. Lalín} [Int. J. Number Theory 6, No. 3, 705--711 (2010; Zbl 1201.11098)] and by \textit{M. Lalín} and \textit{G. Wu} [Int. J. Number Theory 15, No. 5, 945--967 (2019; Zbl 1448.11191); ``The Mahler measure of a genus 3 family'', Ramanujan J. (to appear) \url{doi:10.1007/s11139-019-00241-1}].