A problem around Mahler functions

Abstract

Let $K$ be a field of characteristic zero and $k$ and $l$ be two multiplicatively independent positive integers. We prove the following result that was conjectured by Loxton and van der Poorten during the Eighties: a power series $F(z)\in K[[z]]$ satisfies both a $k$- and a $l$-Mahler type functional equation if and only if it is a rational function.