Polynomially complete quasigroups of prime order (Q1731318)

A quasigroup \((Q,*)\) is said to be polynomially complete if the closure under Menger superposition of the binary operation \(*\) together with all the nullary operations on \(Q\) constitutes the set of all finitary operations on \(Q\). This paper establishes that a quasigroup \((Q,*)\) of prime order \(p\geq 5\) is not polynomially complete if and only if there exists a bijection from \((Q,*)\) to the finite field \((\mathbb{Z}_p,+,\times)\) so that any of the following two equivalent conditions holds: {\parindent=0.7cm \begin{itemize}\item[1.] The binary operation \(*\) maps to a linear function. \item[2.] All rows and columns of the Latin square defining \(Q\) constitute linear permutations on the set \(\mathbb{Z}_p\). \end{itemize}} It is also shown that the problem of checking the polynomial completeness of a quasigroup of prime order is decided in time polynomial in the order of the quasigroup under consideration. Both results are naturally generalized to \(n\)-quasigroups of prime order. Further, simple corollaries are given concerning the number of non-polynomially complete quasigroups of prime order, and the number of quasigroups that are isotopic to the former. In this last regard, any non-polynomially complete quasigroup of prime order is isotopic to a polynomially complete quasigroup.