L-functions of certain exponential sums over finite fields. II (Q2167496)

Let \(n=\sum_{i=1}^r n_i\) be a partition of \(n\), \(\mathbb{F}_q\) be the finite field of \(q\) elements and \(p\) its characteristic. For \(\mathbf{a}=(a_1,\ldots,a_r)\in {\mathbb{F}_q^*}^r\) and positive integers \(b_{ij}\), \(1\le j\le n_i\), \(1\le i\le r\), the authors consider the character sums \[ S_k(\mathbf{a})=\sum_{\sum_{i=1}^r \frac{a_i}{\prod_{j=1}^{n_i}x_{ij}^{b_{ij}}}=1} \psi\left(\mathrm{Tr}_k\left(\sum_{i=1}^r\sum_{j=1}^{n_i} x_{ij}\right)\right), \] where \(\psi\) is a nontrivial additive character of \(\mathbb{F}_p\), Tr\(_k\) denotes the absolute trace of \(\mathbb{F}_{q^k}\) and \(x_{ij}\) run through \(\mathbb{F}_{q^k}^*\). They prove that the \(L\)-function \[ L(\mathbf{a},T)=\exp\left(\sum_{k=1}^\infty S_k(\mathbf{a})\frac{T^k}{k}\right). \] is a polynomial of degree \[ d=\prod_{i=1}^r \left(1+\sum_{j=1}^{n_i}b_{ij}\right) \] and the number of its zeros with a certain slope can be expressed with a certain generating function. This paper generalizes the author's previous paper [Math. Z. 300, No. 2, 1851--1871 (2022; Zbl 1501.11103)], which deals with \(n=4\), \(n_1=n_2=2\) and \(b_{ij}=1\). The main tools are Adolphson-Sperber's result on toric exponential sums and Wan's decomposition theorem.