The \(L_4\) norm of Littlewood polynomials derived from the Jacobi symbol (Q448917)

A Littlewood polynomial is a polynomial \(A(z) = \sum_{z=0}^{n-1} \in \mathbb C[z]\) with coefficients \(a_j\in\{-1,1\}\) for each \(j\). An example is the polynomial NEWLINE\[NEWLINE X=J+1\;\quad\text{with}\quad J(z) = \sum_{j=1}^{p-1}(j\;|\;p)z^j, NEWLINE\]NEWLINE where \(p\) is an odd prime and \((\cdot\;|\;p)\) is the Legendre symbol.NEWLINENEWLINEGiven a polynomial \(A\in \mathbb C[z]\) of degree \(n-1\) and a real \(r\), the rotation \(A_r\) of \(A\) is defined by NEWLINE\[NEWLINE A_r(z) = z^{-\lfloor nr\rfloor}A(z) \bmod (z^n-1). NEWLINE\]NEWLINE \textit{T. Høholdt} and \textit{H. E. Jensen} [IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 34, No. 1, 161--164 (1988; Zbl 0652.40006)] showed that the merit factor \(F(X_r)\) of \(X_r\) satisfies \(\lim_{p\rightarrow \infty}F(X_r) = f(r)\) with \(f(r) = (1/6+8(|r|-1/4)^2)^{-1}\), \(-1/2 < r \leq 1/2\). From this result, Littlewood polynomials with largest known asymptotic merit factor \(6\) are obtained.NEWLINENEWLINEThe authors consider the more general Littlewood polynomials \(J(z)+V(z)\), with NEWLINE\[NEWLINE J(z) = \sum_{j=1}^{n-1}(j\;|\;n)z^j, NEWLINE\]NEWLINE where \((\cdot\;|\;n)\) denotes the Jacobi symbol, and \(V(z) = \sum_{j=0}^{n-1}\) is some polynomial with \(v_j = 0 \leftrightarrow \gcd(j,n) = 1\). Consequently, \(J(z)+V(z)\) is a Littlewood polynomial which the authors call a Littlewood completion of \(J\). The authors show that subject to a mild condition on the growth rate of the smallest prime factor \(p_n\) of \(n\), there is no Littlewood completion of \(J\) for which the asymptotic merit factor of \(J_r+V_r\) exceeds \(f(r)\), but a choice of a polynomial \(V\) is given, for which \(\lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}F(J_r+V_r) = f(r)\). For a more restrictive condition on \(p_n\), namely \(n^{1/3}/p_n\rightarrow 0\), they show that \textit{all} Littlewood completions satisfy \(\lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}F(J_r+V_r) = f(r)\). The results in this paper significantly enlarge the set of explicitly defined Littlewood polynomials with asymptotic merit factor equal to the current best known value \(6\).