Normal bases over \(\text{GF}(q)\) (Q5946410)

Let \(p\) be a prime, \(q\) a power of \(p\) and \(m\geq 2\) an integer. A basis of \(E=\text{GF}(p^{m})\) over \(F=\text{GF}(p)\) of the form \(\alpha, \alpha^{q},\dots,\alpha^{q^{m-1}}\) is called a normal basis of \(E\) over \(F\), and \(\alpha\) is called a normal (or free) element of \(E\) over \(F\). A monic irreducible polynomial \(f(x)\in F[x]\) is called a normal polynomial over \(F\) if it is a minimal polynomial of a normal element of \(E\) over \(F\). The sum of all roots of \(f(x)\) is called the trace of \(f(x)\). It is known that if \(m\) is a power of \(p\), or itself is a prime different from \(p\) with \(q\) as one of its primitive roots, then an irreducible polynomial of degree \(m\) is normal if and only if its trace is non-zero. In this paper the authors prove that for a \(m\)th irreducible polynomial of \(F[x]\) the above two conditions on \(m\) are indeed necessary and sufficient conditions for the equivalence between the properties of having non-zero trace and being normal over \(F\).