On \((-1)\)-differential uniformity of ternary APN power functions (Q2130049)

Functions with low differential uniformity over finite fields have been widely investigated because of their applications in cryptography. Classically, the differential uniformity of \(f:\mathbb{F}_{p^n}\rightarrow\mathbb{F}_{p^n}\) is defined as the maximum of the quantities \[ \#\{x\in\mathbb{F}_{p^n}\,:\,f(x+a)-f(x)=b\}. \] with \(a,b\) ranging in \(\mathbb{F}_{p^n}\). Recently, inspired from the development of a new differential attack, Ellingsen et al. proposed a new type of differential uniformity (the so called c-differential uniformity), replacing the above mentioned quantity with \[ \#\{x\in\mathbb{F}_{p^n}\,:\,f(x+a)-cf(x)=b\}. \] where \(c\in \mathbb{F}_{p^n}\). In this paper, the authors investigate the \((-1)\)-differential uniformity of some ternary APN power functions \(f(x) = x^d\) over \(\mathbb{F}_{3^n}\), and they provide several examples of functions with low \((-1)\)-differential uniformity. In particular, some of these functions are almost perfect \((-1)\)-nonlinear, i.e. their \((-1)\)-differential uniformity is exactly \(2\).