On special values of Jacobi-sum Hecke L-functions

Abstract

For motives associated with Fermat curves, there are elements in motivic cohomology whose regulators are written in terms of special values of generalized hypergeometric functions. Using them, we verify the Beilinson conjecture numerically for some cases and find formulae for the values of L-functions at 0. These appear analogous to the Chowla-Selberg formula for the periods of elliptic curves with complex multiplication, which are related with the L-values at 1 by the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture.