The orders of related elements of a finite field (Q1417929)

It is shown that for every prime power \(q \notin \{2,3,4,5,7,9,13,25,121\}\), the finite field \(\text{GF} (q)\) contains a primitive element \(\gamma\) for which \(\gamma + \gamma^{-1}\) is also primitive. It is also shown that for every prime power \(q \notin \{3, 5\}\), there is an element \(\gamma \in \text{GF} (q^2)\) of order \(q + 1\) such that \(\gamma + \gamma^{-1}\) is a primitive element of the subfield \(\text{GF} (q)\). The second result relies on first showing that for every prime power \(q \notin \{3, 5\}\), there is an irreducible, semi-primitive polynomial of the form \(f (x) = x^2 - x + a\) in \(\text{GF} (q) [x];\) that is, the roots of \(f\) in \(\text{GF} (q^2)\) have order \({1}\over{2}\) \((q^2 - 1)\). These results improve upon asymptotic results found in [\textit{I. Shparlinski}, Finite Fields Appl. 7, 327--331 (2001; Zbl 0998.11072)]. The proofs involve theoretical analysis using arithmetic functions and character sums, followed by computer verification for some remaining ``small'' values of \(q\).