Explicit N-polynomials of \(2\)-power degree over finite fields. I (Q1894274)

Let \(q\equiv 1\pmod 4\) be a prime power, and let \(F\) be the Galois field with \(q\) elements. A monic irreducible \(f\in F[x]\) is called an N-polynomial (for normal polynomial) if its roots are linearly independent over \(F\). Let \(f_1\in F[x]\) be a self-reciprocal N-polynomial of degree 2 such that \(f_1 (1)\cdot f_1 (-1)\) is a nonsquare in \(F\). Then the sequence \((f_n)_{n\geq 1}\) defined by \(f_{n+1} (x)= (2x )^{2^n}\cdot f_n ((x+ x^{-1})/ 2)\), \(n\geq 1\), consists entirely of N-polynomials over \(F\). It is shown how to modify this construction to give a sequence that is also trace-compatible, i.e., the relative trace roots of \(f_{n+1}\) to roots of \(f_n\). The author promises another paper to deal with the case \(q\equiv 3\pmod 4\), and refers the reader to a paper by \textit{A. Scheerhorn} [in Finite fields: theory, applications and algorithms, Contemp. Math. 168, 309--325 (1994; Zbl 0822.11084)]\ for the case of characteristic 2.