On the iterations of the maps \(ax^{2^k}+b\) and \((a x^{2^k} + b)^{-1}\) over finite fields of characteristic two (Q2035127)

The author studies the dynamical system arising from the action of the two families of maps, \(\vartheta_{a,b, k}: x \mapsto a x^{2k} + b\) and \(\psi_{a,b,k}: x \mapsto (a x^{2k} + b)^{-1}\), on \({\mathbf P}^{1}({\mathbf F}_{q})\), where \(q = 2^{n}\), \(a \in {\mathbf F}_{q}^{\ast}\) and \(b\in {\mathbf F}_{q}\). By relating \(\vartheta_{a,b,k}\) to the duplication map on supersingular elliptic curves defined over \( {\mathbf F}_{q}\), the author gives the possible cycle lengths of \(\vartheta_{a,b,k}\) on \({\mathbf P}^{1}({\mathbf F}_{q})\) in terms of the structure of the group of \({\mathbf F}_{q^{2}}\)-rational points of the supersingular elliptic curves in question. More precisely, in the case \(k=2\), the image of the map \(\vartheta_{a,b,2}\) gives the \(x\)-component of the duplication map defined on a supersingular elliptic curve \(E\) (depending on \(a, b\)) over \( {\mathbf F}_{q}.\) Suppose that \(E({\mathbf F}_{q^{2}}) \simeq {\mathbf Z}/n_{1}{\mathbf Z} \times {\mathbf Z}/n_{2}{\mathbf Z} \) for some positive integer \(n_{1}, n_{2}.\) Then a point \(P\in E({\mathbf F}_{q^{2}})\) can be represented by a pair \(([a_{1}], [a_{2}])\) of residue classes \([a_{i}] \in {\mathbf Z}/n_{i}{\mathbf Z}, i = 1, 2.\) For \(x_{0}\in {\mathbf F}_{q}\), it corresponds to the \(x\)-coordinate of points \(P\) (and \(-P\)) in \(E({\mathbf F}_{q^{2}})\). One of the main result (Theorem 3.1) in this paper is to give the length of the orbit \(O(x_{0})\) for the map \(\vartheta_{a,b,2}\) in terms of group structure of \(G = {\mathbf Z}/n_{1}{\mathbf Z} \times {\mathbf Z}/n_{2}{\mathbf Z}\) and the period of \(([a_{1}], [a_{2}])\) in \(G/\{\pm 1\}\) under the duplication map. For general \(k\ge 2\), the author relates \(\vartheta_{a,b,k}\) to suitable iterates of \(\vartheta_{c,d,2}\) for some \(c, d \in \overline{{\mathbf F}_{q}}\). Some results on the cycle lengths on \({\mathbf P}^{1}({\mathbf F}_{q})\) under \(\vartheta_{a,b,k}\) are discussed. For the map \(\psi_{a,b,k}\), an observation is that it is conjugated to \(\vartheta_{c,0,k}\) for some \(c\in \overline{{\mathbf F}_{q}}\) under a suitable change of coordinate. The dynamics of \(\psi_{a,b,k}\) can thus be described through \(\vartheta_{c,0,k}\). In particular, the number of fixed points of \(\psi_{a,b,k}\) in \({\mathbf P}^{1}({\mathbf F}_{q})\) can be determined explicitly.