Chinburg's weak and strong conjectures for Mahler measures

Let f<0-f<0 be a fundamental discriminant, and let χf\chi_{-f} be the associated odd, primitive, quadratic Dirichlet character of conductor ff, with LL-function L(χf,s)L(\chi_{-f},s). For a rational function PC(x,y)×P\in\mathbf{C}(x,y)^\times, let its logarithmic Mahler measure be

m(P)=1(2πi)2T2logP(x,y)dxxdyy.\operatorname{m}(P)=\frac{1}{(2\pi\mathrm{i})^2}\int_{\mathbf{T}^2}\log|P(x,y)|\frac{\mathrm{d}x}{x}\frac{\mathrm{d}y}{y}.

Chinburg's conjectures. For every fundamental discriminant f<0-f<0, there exists a bivariate rational function PZ(x,y)P\in\mathbf{Z}(x,y) and a rational number rQ×r\in\mathbf{Q}^{\times} such that

m(P)=rL(χf,1).\operatorname{m}(P)=rL'(\chi_{-f},-1).

In the strong form, one may take PZ[x,y]P\in\mathbf{Z}[x,y]. These conjectures relate Mahler measures to special values of Dirichlet LL-functions; the strong form was known for only finitely many conductors before the examples studied in this paper, while the weak form is proved here if cyclotomic coefficients are allowed.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

David Hokken, Mahya Mehrabdollahei and Berend Ringeling, “Relating Mahler measures and Dirichlet L-values: new evidence for Chinburg's conjectures”, arXiv:2603.20820 (2026).

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