On Weil sums, conjectures of Helleseth, and Niho exponents (Q2071703)

The author studies Weil sums \[ W_{F,s}(a)=\sum_{x\in F} \mu(x^s-ax),\quad a\in F, \] of binomials, where \(F\) is a finite field, \(\mu\) the canonical additive character of \(F\), and \(s\) is invertible (modulo \(|F|-1\)), that is, \(\gcd(|F|-1,s)=1\). \textit{T. Hellesth} [Discrete Math. 16, 209--232 (1976; Zbl 0348.94017)] conjectured that if \(|F|>2\), \(\gcd(|F|-1,s)=1\) and \(s\equiv 1\bmod (p-1)\), where \(p\) is the characteristic of \(F\), then \(W_{F,s}(a)=0\) for some \(a\in F\setminus\{0\}\). If \(|F|=p^{2n}\), an exonent \(s\) is a Niho exponent if \(s\) is not a power of \(p\) modulo \((p^{2n}-1)\) but \(s\equiv p^j\bmod (p^n-1)\) for some \(j\). Helleseth's Vanishing Conjecture was proved for Niho exponents for \(p=2\) by \textit{C. Charpin} [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 108, No. 2, 247--259 (2004; 1072.94016)] and for \(p>2\) by \textit{T. Helleseth} et al., [Finite Fields Appl. 13, No. 2, 305--317 (2007; 1152.11006)]. The author presents a new proof of this result and states a conjecture when the Weil spectrum \(\{W_{F,s}(a): 0\ne a\in F\}\) for invertible Niho exponents \(s\) contains at least five elements. A proof is given for sufficiently large characteristic.