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Bi-algebraicity in the rank one Riemann--Hilbert correspondence via o-minimality

For a smooth, projective, complex algebraic variety $X$, the Riemann--Hilbert correspondence establishes a complex analytic isomorphism between the `Betti moduli space' of rank $n$ local systems on $X^\mathrm{an}$ and the `de Rham moduli space' of rank $n$ vector bundles with flat connection on $X$. In the rank one case, C. Simpson precisely characterizes the subvarieties of these moduli spaces that are `bi-algebraic' for this typically transcendental, analytic isomorphism. In this short note, we give a new proof of this characterization of Simpson, using methods from o-minimal geometry. We adapt the o-minimal proof to a p-adic setting, namely that of Mumford curves.