On the polynomial basis of \(\mathrm{GF}(2^n)\) having a small number of trace-one elements (Q1793753)

Summary: In the Galois fields \(\mathrm{GF}(2^n)\), a polynomial basis with a small number of trace-one elements is desirable for its convenience in computing. To find new irreducible polynomials \(g(x)\) over \(\mathrm{GF}(2)\) with this property, we research into the auxiliary polynomial \(f(x) = (x + 1) g(x)\) with roots \(\{1, \alpha_1, \alpha_2, \ldots, \alpha_n \}\), such that the symmetric polynomials \(s_k = 1 + \alpha_1^k + \alpha_2^k + \cdots + \alpha_n^k\) are relative to the symmetric polynomials of \(g(x)\). We introduce a new class of polynomials with the number ``1'' occupying most of the values in its \(s_k\). This indicates that the number ``0'' occupies most of the values of the traces of the elements \(\{\alpha_1, \alpha_2, \ldots, \alpha_n \}\). This new class of polynomial gives us an indirect way to find irreducible polynomials having a small number of trace-one elements in their polynomial bases.