Number of points on the projective curves \(aY^l=bX^l+cZ^l\) and \(aY^{2l}=bX^{2l}+cZ^{2l}\) defined over finite fields, \(l\) an odd prime (Q1125408)

This interesting paper builds on a large literature on the cyclotomic problem dating back to Gauss. In it the authors give explicit formulae for the Jacobi sums and cyclotomic numbers of order \(e=l\) and \(e=2l\) over the finite fields \(\mathbb F_q,\) \(q=p^\alpha\equiv 1\pmod e\), for odd primes \(l\) and primes \(p\) such that the order of \(l\) modulo \(p\) is even. These results are obtained solely in terms of \(l\) and \(q.\) Applying these results the authors evaluate the number of \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\)-rational points on the non-singular projective curves \(aY^l=bX^l+cZ^l\) and \(aY^{2l}=bX^{2l}+cZ^{2l}\) \((a,b,c\neq 0)\), defined over \(\mathbb F_q\) for \(q,\;p\) and \(l\) as above. This enables them to describe the \(\zeta\)-function of the curves \(aY^l=bX^l+cZ^l\) explicitly as a rational function in a variable \(t\) over \(\mathbb F_q\) and so also corroborate the Hasse-Weil Theorem for this class of curves. The authors have made a special effort to explain the context as well as their contribution in a detailed introduction, giving the relevant references on the cyclotomic problem for the convenience of the reader.