On the rank one abelian Gross-Stark conjecture

TL;DR

This paper proves the rank one abelian Gross-Stark conjecture unconditionally by removing previous assumptions related to Leopoldt's conjecture and $ ext{L}$-invariants, advancing understanding of $p$-adic $L$-functions and $p$-units.

Contribution

It provides an unconditional proof of the Gross-Stark conjecture in the rank one abelian case, eliminating prior restrictive conditions.

Findings

Unconditional proof of the Gross-Stark conjecture for rank one abelian cases.

Elimination of assumptions related to Leopoldt's conjecture and $ ext{L}$-invariants.

Enhanced understanding of the relation between $p$-adic $L$-functions and $p$-units.

Abstract

Let $F$ be a totally real number field, $p$ a rational prime, and $\chi$ a finite order totally odd abelian character of Gal$(\bar{F}/F)$ such that $\chi(\mathfrak{p})=1$ for some $\mathfrak{p}|p$. Motivated by a conjecture of Stark, Gross conjectured a relation between the derivative of the $p$-adic $L$-function associated to $\chi$ at its exceptional zero and the $\mathfrak{p}$-adic logarithm of a $p$-unit in the $\chi$ component of $F_\chi^\times$. In a recent work, Dasgupta, Darmon, and Pollack have proven this conjecture assuming two conditions: that Leopoldt's conjecture holds for $F$ and $p$, and that if there is only one prime of $F$ lying above $p$, a certain relation holds between the $\mathscr{L}$-invariants of $\chi$ and $\chi^{-1}$. The main result of this paper removes both of these conditions, thus giving an unconditional proof of the conjecture.