Exceptional polynomials over finite fields (Q1897201)

The key breakthrough in the attempts to eliminate candidates for the monodromy groups of an indecomposable exceptional polynomial is generally considered to be the work of Fried et al. in 1993. However, they employed the classification of finite simple groups, among other things. The authors of the paper under review remedy this situation by confirming the monodromy group of all polynomials of a certain type, independent of the aforementioned classification. The authors dedicate the paper (``with gratitude and appreciation'') to Leonard Carlitz about whom they comment, in text, that ``Carlitz would have been satisfied that his insight into the nature of PP's (permutation polynomials) has had such deep consequences \(\dots\)''.