Let $M\left(\alpha \right)$ be the Mahler measure of an algebraic number $\alpha$, and $V$ be an open subset of $ℂ$. Then its $L\left(V\right)$ is inf $M{\left(\alpha \right)}^{1/deg\left(\alpha \right)}$, the infimum being over all non-zero non-cyclotomic $\alpha$ lying with its conjugates outside $V$. We evaluate $L\left(V\right)$ when $V$ is any annulus centered at $0$. We do the same for a variant of $L\left(V\right)$, which we call the transfinite Lehmer constant $L_{\infty }\left(V\right)$.Also, we prove the converse to Langevin’s Theorem, which states that $L\left(V\right)\>1$ if $V$ contains a point of modulus $1$. We prove the corresponding result for...

Every real number $x,0\<x\le 1$, has an essentially unique expansion as a Pierce series : $$x=\frac{1}{x^1}-\frac{1}{x^1{x}^2}+\frac{1}{x^1{x}^2{x}^3}-\cdots$$ where the $x_i$ form a strictly increasing sequence of positive integers. The expansion terminates if and only if $x$ is rational. Similarly, every positive real number $y$ has a unique expansion as an Engel series : $$y=\frac{1}{y^1}-\frac{1}{y^1{y}^2}+\frac{1}{y^1{y}^2{y}^3}+\cdots$$ where the $y_i$ form a (not necessarily strictly) increasing sequence of positive integers. If the expansion is infinite, we require that the sequence yi...

Let $K={𝔽}_q\left(T\right)$ be the rational function field over a finite field of $q$ elements. For any polynomial $f\left(T\right)\in {𝔽}_q\left[T\right]$ with positive degree, denote by ${\Lambda }_f$ the torsion points of the Carlitz module for the polynomial ring ${𝔽}_q\left[T\right]$. In this short paper, we will determine an explicit formula for the analytic class number for the unique subfield $M$ of the cyclotomic function field $K\left({\Lambda }_P\right)$ of degree $k$ over ${𝔽}_q\left(T\right)$, where $P\in {𝔽}_q\left[T\right]$ is an irreducible polynomial of positive degree and $k>1$ is a positive divisor of $q-1$. A formula for the analytic class...

For $x\in ℂ$, $\left|x\right|\<1$, $s\in \mathbb{N}$, let ${\mathrm{Li}}_s\left(x\right)$ be the $s$-th polylogarithm of $x$. We prove that for any non-zero algebraic number $\alpha$ such that $\left|\alpha \right|\<1$, the $\mathbb{Q}\left(\alpha \right)$-vector space spanned by $1,{\mathrm{Li}}_1\left(\alpha \right),{\mathrm{Li}}_2\left(\alpha \right),\cdots$ has infinite dimension. This result extends a previous one by Rivoal for rational $\alpha$. The main tool is a method introduced by Fischler and Rivoal, which shows the coefficients of the polylogarithms in the relevant series to be the unique solution of a suitable Padé approximation problem.

Let $p\ge 3$ be a prime, let $n\>m\ge 1$. Let ${\pi }_n$ be the norm of ${\zeta }_{p^n}-1$ under $C_{p-1}$, so that ${\mathbb{Z}}_{\left(p\right)}\left[{\pi }_n\right]|{\mathbb{Z}}_{\left(p\right)}$ is a purely ramified extension of discrete valuation rings of degree $p^{n-1}$. The minimal polynomial of ${\pi }_n$ over $\mathbb{Q}\left({\pi }_m\right)$ is an Eisenstein polynomial; we give lower bounds for its coefficient valuations at ${\pi }_m$. The function field analogue, as introduced by Carlitz and Hayes, is studied as well.

Given an irreducible algebraic curves $A$ in ${ℂ}^N$, let $m_d$ be the dimension of the complex vector space of all holomorphic polynomials of degree at most $d$ restricted to $A$. Let $K$ be a nonpolar compact subset of $A$, and for each $d=1,2,...,$ choose $m_d$ points ${\left\{A_{dj}\right\}}_{j=1,...,m_d}$ in $K$. Finally, let ${\Lambda }_d$ be the $d$-th Lebesgue constant of the array $\left\{A_{dj}\right\}$; i.e., ${\Lambda }_d$ is the operator norm of the Lagrange interpolation operator $L_d$ acting on $C\left(K\right)$, where $L_d\left(f\right)$ is the Lagrange interpolating polynomial for $f$ of degree $d$ at the points ${\left\{A_{dj}\right\}}_{j=1,...,m_d}$. Using techniques...