DEGREE-ONE MAHLER FUNCTIONS: ASYMPTOTICS, APPLICATIONS AND SPECULATIONS

We present a complete characterisation of the radial asymptotics of degree-one Mahler functions as $z$ approaches roots of unity of degree $k^{n}$, where $k$ is the base of the Mahler function, as well as some applications concerning transcendence and algebraic independence. For example, we show that the generating function of the Thue–Morse sequence and any Mahler function (to the same base) which has a nonzero Mahler eigenvalue are algebraically independent over $\mathbb{C}(z)$. Finally, we discuss asymptotic bounds towards generic points on the unit circle.

On linear independence measures of the values of Mahler functions

We estimate the linear independence measures for the values of a class of Mahler functions of degrees 1 and 2. For this purpose, we study the determinants of suitable Hermite–Padé approximation polynomials. Based on the non-vanishing property of these determinants, we apply the functional equations to get an infinite sequence of approximations that is used to produce the linear independence measures.