On the Stark units of Drinfeld modules (Q2658409)

The aim of this mainly expository chapter is to present the theory of Stark units of Drinfeld modules. Given a Drinfeld module, \(\phi\colon A\to B[\tau]\), \(\phi_a=\sum_{i=0}^r a_i\tau^i\), the \(z\)-deformation is \(\tilde{\phi}_a= \sum_{i=0}^r a_iz^i\tau^i\). Let \(U(\phi)\) be the unit module of \(\phi\), introduced by \textit{L. Taelman} [Int. Math. Res. Not. 2009, No. 16, 2957--2977 (2009; Zbl 1236.11082)]. The \textit{module of Stark units} of \(\phi\) is the submodule of finite index of \(U( \phi)\) obtained by computing \(U(\tilde{\phi})\) and evaluating at \(z=1\). The consideration of Stark units arose from the study of log-algebraicity. Theorem 7.4.6 states that the Fitting ideal of the quotient of \(U(\phi)\) by the module of Stark units is equal to the Fitting ideal of the class module of \(\phi\). In the first three sections, besides of the basic notions, the tools necessary to state Taelman's class formula are given. In Section 7.5, the author presents some class formulas and points out how Stark units appear in the formulas. In Section 7.6, the multivariable deformation of a Drinfeld \(A\)-module, \(A={\mathbb F}_q[\theta]\), is studied. This object is used extensively for arithmetic applications. In particular, it is shown that the class module of the canonical deformation of the Carlitz modules is pseudo cyclic or pseudo null, and how it remains the classical Greenberg conjectures. Also, the author proves that for a prime \(P\), almost all Bernoulli-Carlitz numbers of a certain form do not vanish modulo \(P\). In the last section there are some words on Stark units in more general settings. There are some new proofs of known results. For the entire collection see [Zbl 1459.11004].