No label defined (Q4501768)

Firstly, it is recalled, how transcendence and diophantine geometry have grown into beautiful and far-reaching theories which now enhance many different aspects of mathematics. Then some of the principal problems are described that had emerged as a consequence of wide-ranging research in the field. Secondly, it is discussed how three of Hilbert's problems seemingly very distant from each other initially, have come together and have provided the catalyst for a vast interplay between number theory and geometry. One of these problems, the twelfth, itself originated from the celebrated Kronecker's \textit{Jugendtraum} (``... whether all abelian extensions of number fields can be similarly generated by values of analytic functions?''). The authors have described how this landmark in mathematical evolution relates to modern developments and how it creates many further exciting openings in the realm of modular varieties and elsewhere in the future. All this is linked with Hodge theory as well as with arithmetic and algebraic groups. It is indicated how it is closely connected with deep problems concerning rational points on Shimura varieties. This will lead, via Hilbert's seventh problem, to the theory of linear forms in logarithms and to the generalization of the latter in the context of commutative group varieties. The theory has involved as the most critical instrument for the effective solution of Diophantine equations, one of the really classical areas of mathematics and the topic of the tenth problem of Hilbert. The relationships become especially evident through a simple but striking conjecture, the \(abc\)-conjecture, which seems to hold the key to much of the future directions of number theory. This aspect is discussed together with some outstanding diophantine problems. The article covers : 1. Introduction, 2. Hilbert's twelfth problem, 3. Hypergeometric theory, 4. The \(abc\)-conjecture, 5. Diophantine problems. There are 27 refs. For the entire collection see [Zbl 1047.00015].