Gauss sums over some matrix groups (Q455806)

This article studies mixed character sums over the general linear group of degree \(n\) in certain finite fields. These mixed character sums involve additive and multiplicative characters over prime fields, i. e. finite fields with \(p\) elements with \(p\) being a prime number. Using the following notation, \(\mathrm{GL}_n\) is the general linear group of degree \(n\) and \(\mathrm{SL}_n\) is the special linear group of degree \(n\) with entries in the finite field with \(p\) elements, \(U\) a matrix of \(n\) rows and \(n\) columns with entries in the finite field with \(p\) elements, \(\lambda(x)\) is the canonical additive character of the finite field with \(p\) elements, \(\chi(x)\) is a multiplicative character of the finite field with \(p\) elements, the authors study two different sums, \[ \sum_{X\in \mathrm{GL}_n}\chi(\det X)\lambda(U\cdot X)\quad\text{ and } \quad \sum_{X\in \mathrm{SL}_n}\chi(\det X)\lambda(U\cdot X), \] and provide bounds when \(U\) is taken randomly as a corollary. Also, the authors rediscover the number of matrices with a given trace using their results.