Highly degenerate quadratic forms over \(\mathbb F_{2}\) (Q2467313)

Let \(K/F\) be an extension of finite fields of characteristic 2. In a previous paper [Finite Fields Appl. 11, No. 2, 165--181 (2005; Zbl 1140.11331)], the author proved that every quadratic form \(Q:K\rightarrow F\) can be expressed, in an essentially unique way, in the form \(Q_R(x) = \text{tr}_{K/F}xR(x)\), where \(R\) is a linearized polynomial with coefficients in \(K\); that is, \(R(x)= \sum_{i=0}^{h}\varepsilon_ix^{q^i}\), where \(\varepsilon_i\in K\) and \(F=\text{GF}(q)\). The main result of the present paper is to determine all extensions \(K\) and all linearized polynomials \(R\) such that the radical of \(Q_R\) has codimension at most 2. The previous paper [op cit] considered this problem for the case of an arbitrary ground field \(F\), but with the restriction that the coefficients of the polynomial \(R\) lie in \(\text{GR}(2)\). The results are applied to give a construction of maximal Artin-Schreier curves \(y^2+y=xR(x)\).