Quadratic Gauss sums (Q1273211)

Let \(m\) be an odd positive integer, \(n\) an arbitrary positive integer, and \(p\) a prime which does not divide \(m\). Let \(\mathbb{F}_{p}\) be a prime finite field, \(\mathbb{F}_{q}\) a finite extension of \(\mathbb{F}_{p}\) of degree \(f\), so \(q=p^{f}\), and \( \chi\) a multiplicative character of \(\mathbb{F}_{q}\) of order \(m\). If \( \zeta_{n}= \exp (2 \pi i/n)\) and \[ \text{Tr}: \mathbb{F}_{q} \rightarrow \mathbb{F}_{p}, \qquad x \mapsto x+x^{p}+ \cdots +x^{p^{f-1}}, \] is the trace map, then the Gauss sum associated to \( \chi\) is an algebraic integer in \({\mathbb Q}( \zeta_{m}, \zeta_{p})\) of the form \[ G_{\mathbb{F}_{q}}( \chi)= \sum_{x \in \mathbb{F}_{q}} \chi(x) \zeta_{p}^{\text{Tr}(x)}. \] If \( \chi\) is a non-trivial character, then \(|G_{\mathbb{F}_{q}}( \chi)|= \sqrt q\). The author studies the problem of the explicit value of \(G_{\mathbb{F}_{q}}( \chi)\) in the so-called index \(2\) case when the cyclic subgroup \(\langle{}p\rangle{}\), generated by \(p\), has index \(2\) in \({\mathbb Z}/m{\mathbb Z}\). In this case \(m\) has at most two prime divisors. In the index \(2\) case the Gauss sums \(G_{\mathbb{F}_{q}}(\chi)\) have been determined explicitly if \(p=2\) and \(m\) is a product of two distinct primes [\textit{M. Van der Vlugt}, J. Number Theory 55, 145-159 (1995; Zbl 0840.94021)], and if \(m=l^{s}\), where \(l > 3\) is a prime such that \(l \equiv 3\pmod 4\) [\textit{P. Langevin}, J. Number Theory 63, 59-64 (1997; Zbl 0899.11059)]. Making use of the approach developed by \textit{N. Koblitz} [Can. Math. Bull. 34, 229-235 (1991; Zbl 0725.11028)], the author determines \(G_{\mathbb{F}_{q}}( \chi)\) explicitly in the general index 2 case.