In algebraic number theory, Leopoldt's conjecture, introduced by H.-W. Leopoldt (1962, 1975), states that p-adic regulator of a number field does not vanish. The p-adic regulator is an analogue of the usual regulator defined using p-adic logarithms instead of the usual logarithms, introduced by H.-W. Leopoldt (1962).
Leopoldt proposed a definition of a p-adic regulator Rp attached to K and a prime number p. The definition of Rp uses an appropriate determinant with entries the p-adic logarithm of a generating set of units of K (up to torsion), in the manner of the usual regulator. The conjecture, which for general K is still open as of 2009[update], then comes out as the statement that Rp is not zero.
Let K be a number field and for each prime P of K above some fixed rational prime p, let UP denote the local units at P and let U1,P denote the subgroup of principal units in UP. Set
Then let E1 denote the set of global units ε that map to U1 via the diagonal embedding of the global units in E.
Since is a finite-index subgroup of the global units, it is an abelian group of rank , where is the number of real embeddings of and the number of pairs of complex embeddings. Leopoldt's conjecture states that the -module rank of the closure of embedded diagonally in is also
Leopoldt's conjecture is known in the special case where is an abelian extension of or an abelian extension of an imaginary quadratic number field: Ax (1965) reduced the abelian case to a p-adic version of Baker's theorem, which was proved shortly afterwards by Brumer (1967). Mihăilescu (2009, 2011) has announced a proof of Leopoldt's conjecture for all number fields.
Colmez (1988) expressed the residue of the p-adic Dedekind zeta function of a totally real field at s = 1 in terms of the p-adic regulator. As a consequence, Leopoldt's conjecture for those fields is equivalent to their p-adic Dedekind zeta functions having a simple pole at s = 1.