Algebraicity of higher Green functions at a CM point (Q6072324)

The study of the values of automorphic functions at CM points of Shimura varieties is an important problem with deep arithmetical significance. Motivated by earlier results and conjectures by Gross, Zagier, and many other authors (see for example [\textit{B. H. Gross} and \textit{D. B. Zagier}, J. Reine Angew. Math. 355, 191--220 (1985; Zbl 0545.10015)]), the author proves that for a class of functions called higher Green functions, the values at CM points are logarithms of algebraic numbers. This result was conjectured by Zagier in Zagier's 1986 ICM proceeding. The main results of the paper are stated in the introduction where in particular the main Theorem of the paper is stated, that is Theorem 1.3. This says that the difference in the values of higher Green functions on certain orthogonal Shimura varieties at two CM points can be written as sums of logarithms of algebraic numbers. It is then conjectured (Conjecture 1.6) that under the condition that the singular locus of the higher Green function does not contain the CM points of the Shimura varieties, the same formula should hold for a single value of the higher Green function at a CM point. Then, Theorem 1.7 is a specific case of this conjecture, and from it, some of the conjectures of Zagier on the algebraicity of the values of higher Green functions can be deduced. The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 contains preliminary material from the theory of modular forms and Shimura varieties. Section 3, recalls material from the theory of automorphic functions and higher Green functions. Section 4 is where the main technical results are proved. In particular, Theorem 4.3 constructs a specific family of real-analytic Hilbert modular form, and Theorem 4.10 proves an algebraicity result about linear combinations of their Fourier coefficients. In Section 5, the main theorems of the paper are proved with the crucial input of Theorem 4.10.