Counting points over finite fields and hypergeometric functions (Q372734)

Let \(E_{\lambda}\) denote the elliptic curve of the Legendre form. There is a classical result by \textit{J.-I. Igusa} [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 44, 312--314 (1958; Zbl 0081.03601)] which states that for \(\lambda\in\mathbb{Z}\) the number of \(\mathbb{F}_p\)-points on \(E_{\lambda}\) is a hypergeometric function of the parameter \(\lambda\) (modulo \(p\)). In this paper the author extends this result to a family of monomial deformations \(X_{\lambda}\) of a diagonal hypersurface defined by the equation \(x_1^d+\cdots+x_n^d-d\lambda x_1^{h_1}\cdots x_n^{h_n}=0\) where \(\sum h_i=d\) and \(\gcd(d,h_1,\cdots,h_n)=1\). She shows that the number of \(\mathbb{F}_q\)-points on \(X_{\lambda}\) can be written as a sum of several hypergeometric functions. She proves this by combining the approach by \textit{N. Koblitz} [Compos. Math. 48, 3--23 (1983; Zbl 0509.14023)], which relates the number of points to an analogue of a Barnes type integral, and Katz's finite field hypergeometric functions investigated in [\textit{N. M. Katz}, Exponential sums and differential equations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (1990; Zbl 0731.14008)].