On polynomial functions over finite commutative rings (Q2508627)

Not every function from a commutative ring \(R\) into itself is induced by a polynomial in \(R[x]\). For certain local rings the number of functions that arise from polynomials has been determined in [\textit{S. Frisch}, Polynomial functions on finite commutative rings. Advances in commutative ring theory. Proceedings of the 3rd international conference, Fez, Morocco. Lect. Notes Pure Appl. Math. 205, 323--336 (1997; Zbl 0984.13016)]. In this paper the authors give a sufficient and necessary condition for a function over a finite commutative local ring to be a polynomial function. The main result generalizes a result of \textit{Q. F. Zhang} [J. Number Theory 105, 192--202 (2004; Zbl 1079.11059)], and can be stated as follows: Let \(R\) be a finite commutative local ring with ideal \(M\) of nilpotency \(N\). Then a function \(f\) from \(R\) to \(R\) is a polynomial function if and only if there exist \(N\) functions \(f_0, f_1,\ldots,f_{N-1}\) from \(R\) to \(R\) such that \[ f(x+s) = f_0(x)+f_1(x)s+\cdots+f_{N-1}(x)s^{N-1} \] for any \(x\in R\) and \(s \in M\).