Permutation polynomials with low differential uniformity over finite fields of odd characteristic (Q2438541)

Permutation polynomials, defined over a finite field, with low differential uniformity are often studied because of their applications in cryptography. This paper studies the construction of this kind of functions over the field \(\mathbb F_q\), for an odd prime power number \(q\). (The case of \(q\), a power of 2, has been intensively studied in the last decades). The proposed construction is based on the many possible partitions of \((\mathbb F_q)^*\) and the properties of PN (perfect nonlinear) functions and DO (Dembowski-Ostrom) functions. The construction is made using a defined PN DO-like function, which is a PN function that satisfies a certain condition (proposition 2.1). It is proved that the constructed function has low differential uniformity (the range between two and six), also, a necessary and sufficient condition for the constructed function to be a permutation is given (\(q\equiv 3 \pmod 4\)). Finally, some examples of power functions and polynomial functions with these properties are given.