On the rank of certain finite fields (Q685719)

Let \(L\) and \(K\) be two fields with \(L\) a simple extension of \(K\). By \(R(L/K)\) the author means the rank of the tensor associated to multiplication in \(L\) viewed as an \(K\)-algebra. In this paper the author shows that \(R(\mathbb{F}_{q^ n}/\mathbb{F}_ q)\) has one of two possible values when \({1\over 2}q+1<n<{1\over 2}(m(q)-2)\) where \(m(q)\) is the maximum number of \(\mathbb{F}_ q\)-rational points on an algebraic curve of genus 2 over \(\mathbb{F}_ q\). Lower bounds for \(m(q)\) are given which are close to the bound given by Hasse and Weil and for special \(q\) it is shown that \(m(q)\) is the Hasse-Weil bound.