Algebraic values of analytic functions

Given an analytic function of one complex variable f, we investigate the arithmetic nature of the values of f at algebraic points. A typical question is whether f(alpha) is a transcendental number for each algebraic number alpha. Since there exist transcendental entire functions f such that f((t)) (alpha) is an element of Q [alpha] for any t greater than or equal to 0 and any algebraic number alpha, one needs to restrict the situation by adding hypotheses, either on the functions, or on the points, or else on the set of values. Among the topics we discuss are recent results due to Andrea Surroca on the number of algebraic points where a transcendental analytic function takes algebraic values, new transcendence criteria by Daniel Delbos concerning entire functions of one or several complex variables, and Diophantine properties of special values of polylogarithms. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.