Special L-values of t-motives: a conjecture

Abstract

We propose a conjecture on special values of $ L $-functions in a function field context with positive characteristic coefficients. For $ M $ a uniformizable $ t $-motive with everywhere good reduction we conjecture a relation between the value of the Goss $ L $-function $ L(M^\vee, s) $ at $ s = 0 $ and the uniformization of the abelian $ t $-module associated with $ M $. When $ M $ is a power of the Carlitz $ t $-motive the conjecture specializes to a theorem of Anderson and Thakur on Carlitz zeta values. Beyond this case we present numerical evidence.