On diagonal equations over finite fields (Q5906273)

Assume that \(n\) is an even natural number, \(d_i=2m_i\), \(1\leq i\leq n-2\); \(d_{n-1}=km_{n-1}\); \(d_n=k^\ell m_m\), \(k\geq 3\), \(\ell\geq 1\), such that \((2k,m_i)=1\), and the \(m_i\) are pairwise relatively prime. It is shown that the number of solutions to the equation \(x_1^{d_1}+\dots+ x_n^{d_n}=0\) over the finite field GF\((q)\) is given by \[ \begin{cases} q^{n-1}+(-1)^{(q-1)/2\cdot (n-2)/2}(q-1)q^{(n-2)/2} (k-1) & \text{if } 2\mid(q-1)/k; \\ q^{n-1}-(-1)^{(q-1)/2\cdot (n-2)/2}(q-1)q^{(n-2)/2} & \text{if } 2\nmid(q-1)/k;\end{cases} \] provided that all the \(d_i\) divide \(q-1\). The proof makes use of Jacobi sums and the paper [\textit{A. Granville, S. Li} and \textit{Q. Sun}, J. Sichuan Univ., Nat. Sci. 32, 243-248 (1995; Zbl 0837.11017)].