Functions \(f:\mathbb Z/p^n\mathbb Z\to\mathbb Z/p^n\mathbb Z\) induced by polynomials of \(\mathbb Z[X]\) (Q2368647)

From the author's introduction: Let \(p\) be a prime in \(\mathbb Z\) and \(n\) be a positive integer, we define \(\Phi_n\) the set of functions \(f: \mathbb Z/p^n\mathbb Z\to\mathbb Z/p^n\mathbb Z\). Definition. Let \(\varphi_n\) be the natural map from \(\mathbb Z[X]\) to \(\Phi_n\). We say that a function \(f\in\Phi_n\) is induced by a polynomial \(P(X)\in\mathbb Z[X]\) if \(\varphi_n(P) = f\). The map \(\varphi_n\) is obviously an homomorphism; in this paper we deal with its kernel for all \(n\) (for a description of the image see Carlitz, Chen, and Dickson). It is a well-known fact that \(\varphi_1\) is surjective and \(\mathrm{Ker}\,\varphi_1 = (X^p-X, p)\), so, for \(n = 1\), we get \[ \Phi_1 \simeq \mathbb Z/p\mathbb Z[X]/(X^p-X). \] Moreover, for \(n\leq p\) it is known that \(\mathrm{Ker}\,\varphi_n = (X^p-X, p)^n\) (see [Dickson, p. 22, Theorem 27]). Let \(I\) be the ideal \((X^p-X, p)\) in \(\mathbb Z[X]\) and, moreover, let \(H_2(X)\) be the polynomial \((X^p-X)^p - p^{p-1}(X^p-X)\). We provide a first description for \(\mathrm{Ker}\,\varphi_n\) by proving: Theorem 2.1. \(\mathrm{Ker}\,\varphi_{p+1} = (I^{p+1}, H_2)\). Theorem 2.2. \(\mathrm{Ker}\,\varphi_n \subseteq (I^n , H_2)\) for any positive integer \(n\). The third section is dedicated to the representation of \(\mathrm{Ker}\,\varphi_n\) as a \(\mathbb Z\)-module and to a recursive formula which is used in the final section to provide generators of \(\mathrm{Ker}\,\varphi_n\) for any \(n\) (Theorem 4.4).