A conjecture of Zhi-Wei Sun on determinants over finite fields (Q2082393)

Let \(\mathbb{F}_q\) be the finite field of \(q\) elements where \(q\) is an odd prime power and \(q\equiv 2\pmod 3\). Let \(a_1,a_2,\ldots,a_{q-1}\) be all nonzero elements of \(\mathbb{F}_q\) and define the matrix over \(\mathbb{F}_q\) \[ T_q=\left( \frac{1}{a_i^2-a_ia_j+a_j^2}\right)_{1\le i,j\le q-1}. \] In this paper, the authors show that \[ \det T_q=(-1)^{\frac{q+1}{2}}\, 2^{\frac{q-2}{3}}\in \mathbb{F}_p, \] where \(p\) is the characteristic of \(\mathbb{F}_q\). As a corollary, a conjecture proposed by \textit{Z.-W. Sun} [Finite Fields Appl. 56, 285--307 (2019; Zbl 1411.11030)] is confirmed.