On construction of bent functions involving symmetric functions and their duals (Q2397498)

Let \(n\) be a positive even integer. A \textit{bent} function on \(\mathbb F_2^n\) is a function \(f:\mathbb F_2^n\to\mathbb F_2\) such that \(\sum_{x\in\mathbb F_2^n}(-1)^{f(x)+x\cdot b}=\pm2^{n/2}\) for all \(b\in\mathbb F_2^n\), where \(x\cdot b\) is the usual inner product of \(x\) and \(b\). There is a well-known secondary construction of bent functions by Rothaus which uses three bent functions on \(\mathbb F_2^n\) with additional properties to produce a bent function on \(\mathbb F_2^{n+2}\). In another paper [Adv. Math. Commun. 11, No. 2, 339--345 (2017; Zbl 1408.94950)] by the first two authors of the present paper, Rothaus' construction was generalized so that one can use three bent functions \(f_1,f_2,f_3\) on \(\mathbb F_2^n\) and three bent functions \(g_1,g_2,g_3\) on \(\mathbb F_2^m\) satisfying certain conditions to produce a bent function on \(\mathbb F_2^{n+m}\). The present paper deals with this generalized construction. It is shown that one choose \(f_1(x)=\sigma_2^n(x+u)\), \(f_2(x)=\sigma_2^n(x)\) and \(f_1(x)=\sigma_2^n(x+v)\), where \(x=(x_1,\dots,x_n)\), \(\sigma_2^n(x)=\sum_{1\leq i<j\leq n}x_ix_j\), and \(u,v\in\mathbb F_2^n\) are suitably chosen.