Quotient curves of the GK curve (Q2882932)

Let \(p\) be a prime, \(\ell=p^h\) and \(q=\ell^3\) with \(h \geq 1\), \(\ell >2\). Let NEWLINE\[NEWLINEh(X)= \sum_{i=0}^{\ell} (-1)^{i+1} X^{i(\ell-1)}.NEWLINE\]NEWLINE In [Math. Ann. 343, No. 1, 229--245 (2009; Zbl 1160.14016)], \textit{M. Giulietti} and \textit{G. Korchmáros} defined a new family of maximal curves over finite fields, called GK curves in the present paper and defined by the intersection in \(\mathbb{A}^3\) of \(Z^{\ell^2-\ell+1}=X h(Y)\) with \(Y^{\ell}+Y=X^{\ell+1}\). These curves have a very large automorphism group and taking quotient by different subgroups, the authors obtain new values in the spectrum of genera of \(\mathbb{F}_{q^2}\)-maximal curves. The main difficulty is the computation of the genus of the quotient curve which is achieved by tricky applications of Riemann-Hurwitz formula.