Permutation polynomials over finite fields -- a survey of recent advances (Q2512885)

The survey is devoted to new approaches and novel methods made public in the last five years. Older results are mentioned in order to provide context and motivation for recent achievements. The paper consists of an Introduction and five sections comprising results selected from 94 sources. Section 2 is devoted to a diagrammatic criterion introduced by \textit{A. Akbary} et al. [Finite Fields Appl. 17, No. 1, 51--67 (2011; Zbl 1281.11102)]. This elegant, simple yet powerful criterion provides a generalization for many previous constructions and offers a systematic way for discovering new classes of permutation polynomials over finite fields. The primary focus in Section~3 is on polynomials of the form \(X^r h(X^{(q-1)/d})\), where \(q\) is a prime power, \(d\) divides \(q-1\), \(1<r<(q-1)/d\), and \(h\in \mathbb F_q [X]\). A fruitful approach in the study of permutation properties of such polynomials is based on a connection with certain permutations of the subgroup of order \(d\) of the multiplicative group \(\mathbb F _q^\times\). Significant results on binomials and trinomials that permute \(\mathbb F _q\) are presented in Section 4. The next section is devoted to polynomials obtained by specialization from the bivariate polynomials \(D_{n,k}\in \mathbb Z [X,Y]\) defined by the functional equation \(D_{n,k}(X+Y, XY)=X^n+Y^n+kXY(X^{n-1}-Y^{n-1})/(X-Y)\). Here \(n\) and \(k\) are integers and \(n\) is non-negative. Several conjectures on the permutation properties of various members of this class of polynomials are stated. The content of Section 6 is more eclectic, offering brief encounters with linearized permutation polynomials, polynomials of the form \((X^{p^k}-X+\delta)^s+X\) and \(X^{q-2}+L(X)\) (where \(L\) is linearized), various constructions (including piecewise, recursive, and \(A+B\) construction), planar functions, and classification of permutation polynomials of degree 6 over fields of odd characteristic, and of degree 6 or 7 over \(\mathbb F_{2^t}\) with \(t\geq 3\). The author has mastered a wealth of very recent techniques and important results, providing a balanced overview of a research area in which complex questions still await for a complete solution.