p-adic Mahler measures (Q4933673)

The (classical) Mahler measure of a Laurent polynomial \(f\in{\mathbb Z}[u_1^{\pm 1},\dots,u_n^{\pm 1}]\) is defined by \[ \begin{multlined} m(f)=\int_{0}^{1}\dots\int_{0}^{1}\log|f(e^{2\pi is_1},\dots,e^{2\pi is_n})|ds_1\dots ds_n = \\ {1\over{2\pi i}}\int_{{\mathbb S}^1\times\dots\times {\mathbb S}^1}\log|f(z_1,\dots,z_n)|{{dz_1}\over{z_1}}\dots{{dz_n}\over{z_n}}. \end{multlined} \] One aspect of the arithmetic study of \(m(f)\) started with Lehmer's problem, which may now be stated as: is \(\inf\{m(f):m(f)>0\}>0\)? Values of \(m(f)\) for \(n>1\) are often related to special values of \(L\)-series, and \textit{C. Deninger} [J. Am. Math. Soc. 10, 259-281 (1997; Zbl 0913.11027)] showed that relations between Mahler measures and special values of \(L\)-series may be explained via the Bloch-Beilinson conjectures, by showing that (in certain cases) \(m(f)\) is a Deligne period of a mixed motive attached to \(f\). In particular, for a large class of examples (conditional on the Beilinson conjectures), \(m(f)(2\pi)^{2}/L(E,2)\in{\mathbb Q}^{\times}\) for a certain elliptic curve \(E\) defined over \({\mathbb Q}\). In many of these cases (for example, for some CM curves \(E\)) this has been proved. In a quite different direction, \textit{D. A. Lind, K. Schmidt} and \textit{T. B. Ward} [Invent. Math. 101, 593-629 (1990; Zbl 0774.22002)] showed that \(m(f)\) coincides with the topological entropy of a natural \(n\)-dimensional dynamical system associated to \(f\). In the current paper, a notion of \(p\)-adic Mahler measure is introduced, initially in a quite elementary fashion. Denote as usual \({\mathbb C}_p\) for the completion of the algebraic closure of the \(p\)-adic numbers, \({\mathbf o}_p\) the ring of integers and \({\mathbf m}_p\) its maximal ideal, and write \({\mathbb T}^n_p\) the \(p\)-adic \(n\)-torus comprising points \(z\) with \(|z_i|=1\) for all \(i\). From the theory of rigid analytic spaces, a Laurent polynomial \(f\) on \({\mathbb C}_p\) does not vanish on \({\mathbb C}_p\) if and only if \(f(z)=az_1^{\mu_1}\dots z_n^{\mu_n}\left( 1+Q(z)\right)\), with \(a\in{\mathbb C}_p^{\times}\), and \(Q\in{\mathbf m}_p[u_1^{\pm 1},\dots,u_n^{\pm 1}]\). This shows that the (Shnirelman) integral \[ m_p(f)=\int_{{\mathbb T}_p^n}\log_p (f) {{dz_1}\over{z_1}}\dots{{dz_n}\over{z_n}} \] exists and coincides with \(\log_p a+b_0\), where \(\log_p\) is the branch of the \(p\)-adic logarithm chosen by \(\log_p(p)=0\), and \(b_0\) is the \(0\)th coefficient of the Laurent expansion of \(\log_p(1+Q(z))\) on \({\mathbb T}_p^n\). In contrast to the classical case, if \(f\) vanishes on the \(p\)-adic torus, then the integral does not exist. The main results here give \(p\)-adic analogues of the development of the relationship between classical Mahler measures and Deligne periods. The same symbol in algebraic \(K\)-theory is now applied to the regulator map into a \(p\)-adic analogue of Deligne cohomology, syntomic cohomology. There are two natural rigid homology classes this can be applied against; the first gives the Shnirelman integral measure described above, the second depends on a choice of embeddings of \(\bar{\mathbb Q}\) into the complex numbers and the \(p\)-adic completion. In particular, analogues of the reduction of the measure to an expression involving lower-dimensional measures (Jensen's formula) are given, and interpreted in cohomological form (this is new even for the classical case). Several interesting questions are raised by this important work. In particular (this question is raised at several different levels of sophistication), is there a meaningful dynamical interpretation of the \(p\)-adic Mahler measure? The simplest version of this question is based on the following striking analogy: \textit{D. A. Lind} and \textit{T. B. Ward} [Ergodic Theory Dyn. Syst. 8, 411-419 (1988; Zbl 0634.22005)] showed that the entropy of a rational matrix \(A\) acting on \({\mathbb Q}_p^n\) is \(\sum_{|\lambda|_p>1}\log|\lambda|_p\) (where \(\lambda\) runs through the eigenvalues of \(A\). Here it is shown that if \(f_A\) is the characteristic polynomial of \(A\), with roots \(\alpha\), then \(m_p(f_A)=\sum_{|\alpha|_p>1}\log_p\alpha\), suggesting the existence of a \({\mathbb C}_p\)-valued entropy. Also, the approaches developed here will permit the study of differential equations satisfied by (derivatives of) \(p\)-adic Mahler measures of parametrized families of polynomials to be advanced.