Primitive normal polynomials with a prescribed coefficient (Q1046467)

Let \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) be a finite field of order \(q^n\) where \(q\) is a prime power. An element \(\alpha \in \mathbb F_{q^n}\) is called primitive if it is a generator of \(\mathbb F_{q^n}^*\) and normal if \(\{\alpha,\alpha^q,\dots,\alpha^{q^{n-1}}\}\) form a basis for \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) over \(\mathbb F_q\). Any \(\alpha\) possessing both of these properties is called a primitive normal element, and a monic polynomial over \(\mathbb F_q\) is called a primitive normal polynomial if it is the minimal polynomial of such an element. This paper establishes that, for \(n\geq 15\), a primitive normal polynomial exists with any specified coefficient prescribed, i.e. for any \(a \in \mathbb F_q\) and any \(1 \leq m <n\), there exists a primitive normal polynomial \[ f(x)=x^n-\sigma_1x^{n-1} + \cdots + (-1)^{n-1} \sigma_{n-1}x + (-1)^n \sigma_n \] such that \(\sigma_m=a\) (with the only exception being \(\sigma_1 \neq 0\), necessary by normality). The authors conjecture that for \(n \geq 2\), the result holds for all \((q,n,m,a)\) except for: \((q,n,1,0)\), \((2,3,2,1)\), \((2,4,2,1)\), \((2,4,3,1)\), \((2,6,3,1)\), \((3,4,2,2)\), \((5,3,4,3)\) and \((4,3,2,1+x)\) where \(\mathbb F_4=\mathbb F_2[x]/(x^2+x+1)=\{0,1,x,1+x\}\). This existence question can be viewed as a generalization of the Hansen-Mullen conjecture regarding primitive polynomials. The proof technique of the paper is based on the method used by Cohen to resolve the Hansen-Mullen conjecture for \(n \geq 9\). Adding the normality condition creates various challenges which the authors must overcome, including the fact that the reciprocal of a primitive normal polynomial is not necessarily a primitive normal polynomial itself. The authors predict that the techniques of the paper could be extended to deal with smaller \(n\).