$p$-adic Mahler measure and $\mathbb{Z}$-covers of links

Let $p$ be a prime number. We develop a theory of $p$-adic Mahler measure of polynomials and apply it to the study of $\mathbb{Z}$-covers of rational homology 3-spheres branched over links. We obtain a $p$-adic analogue of the asymptotic formula of the torsion homology growth and a balance formula among the leading coefficient of the Alexander polynomial, the $p$-adic entropy, and the Iwasawa $\mu_p$-invariant. We also apply the purely $p$-adic theory of Besser--Deninger to $\mathbb{Z}$-covers of links. In addition, we study the entropies of profinite cyclic covers of links. We examine various examples throughout the paper.