No label defined (Q4522339)

The author reviews \( p\)-adic analytic and geometric theories that have been elaborated, after Dwork's basic proof of the Weil conjecture, in the last fifty years. The first part contains short overviews on basic properties of \( p\)-adic fields, on Weil conjectures and their cohomological interpretation, on both rigid and Berkovich analytic geometries and on the Frobenius action on rigid cohomology. In particular it is pointed out that the Frobenius can be viewed as a substitute for the lacking part of the fundamental group. The second part is devoted to examples of \( p\)-adic counterparts for classical formulae. They are illustrations of the general ``Boyarsky principle''. Also given are the Gross-Koblitz formula for Morita's \(p\)-adic gamma function, Koblitz-Diamond formula for hypergeometric functions and Evans's counterpart for a famous Selberg formula. The text is very pleasantly written. As it is self-contained and largely avoids technical difficulties to concentrate itself on underlying ideas, both novices and experts can get interested in reading it.