Möbius transformations and characterizations of hyper-bent functions from Dillon-like exponents with coefficients in extension fields (Q6112181)

A Boolean bent function \(f:\mathbb{F}_{2^n}\rightarrow \mathbb{F}_2, n = 2m\) is a \textit{hyperbent} function if the composition \(f(x^k)\) is bent for each monomial permutation \(x^k\) of \(\mathbb{F}_{2^n}\). These functions were mentioned first by \textit{G. Gong} and \textit{S. W. Golomb} [IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 45, No. 6, 2065--2073 (1999; Zbl 0958.94024)] in 1999 but they were actually introduced by \textit{A. M. Youssef} and \textit{G. Gong} [Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 2045, 406--419 (2001; Zbl 1013.94544)] in 2001. Since they have a very restrictive definition, it is very difficult to identify new classes of hyper-bent functions and all known hyper-bent functions belong to the class of \(\mathcal{PS}^\sharp_{ap}\) bent functions except for a function in four variables. It is an open question to find hyper-bent functions outside the class of \(\mathcal{PS}^\sharp_{ap}\) bent functions. All the known classes of hyper-bent functions are given in trace representation with Dillon-like exponents, i.e. they are functions of the form \[ f(x) = \sum_{r \in R} \mathrm{Tr}^n_1(a_rx^{r(2^m-1)})\tag{1} \] where \(a_r \in \mathbb{F}_{2^m}\) for each \(r \in R\) where \(R\) is a set of representatives of the cyclotomic classes modulo \(2^m+1\) In this article, the authors consider functions \(f(x)\) of the form given above but extend the field of the coefficients \(a_r\) from \(\mathbb{F}_{2^m}\) to \(\mathbb{F}_{2^{2m}}\). By using Möbius transformations they show that hyperbentness of the functions \(f(x)\) with coefficients in \(\mathbb{F}_{2^{2m}}\) is still related to exponential sums involving Dickson polynomials. Then they reduce the complexity of the problem of identifying new hyper-bent functions by using the number of rational points on certain hyperelliptic curves. At the end of the article, explicit examples are provided together with a list of open problems.