Existence of generalized inverse of linear transformations over finite fields (Q1273208)

Let \(A\) be an \(m\times n\) matrix over the finite field \(F_q\). The authors prove that \(A\) has a Moore-Penrose inverse if, and only if, \(\text{Im} A\), and \(\text{Ker} A\) have orthogonal complements in \(F^m_q\) and \(F^n_q\), respectively. (Orthogonality is with respect to the natural scalar product.) Attention is drawn to the possible use of generalized inverses over finite fields in cryptography.