Rodrigues Formula and Linear Independence for Values of Hypergeometric Functions With Varying Parameters

Abstract

In this article, we prove a generalized Rodrigues formula for a wide class of holonomic Laurent series, which yields a new linear independence criterion concerning their values at algebraic points. This generalization yields a new construction of Padé approximations including those for Gauss hypergeometric functions. In particular, we obtain a linear independence criterion over a number field concerning values of Gauss hypergeometric functions, allowing the parameters of Gauss hypergeometric functions to vary.