On a conjecture on irreducible polynomials over finite fields with restricted coefficients (Q6113913)

Let \(q\) be a prime power and \(\mathbb{F}_q\) be the finite field of size \(q\). In the paper under review, the authors prove an eventual version of the following conjecture by \textit{A. Munemasa} and \textit{H. Nakamura} [Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. 10064, 84--92 (2016; Zbl 1409.11126)]: Conjecture. Let \(q\) be a prime power and \(n,d\in \mathbb{N}\). Let \(\mathcal{G}\) be the set of elements \(\alpha \in \mathbb{F}_{q^d}\) such that \(\mathbb{F}_q(\alpha)=\mathbb{F}_{q^d}\). Then there exists a polynomial \(f\in \mathbb{F}_q[x]\) of degree \(n\) and an element \(\alpha\in \mathcal{G}\) such that \(f-\alpha\in \mathbb{F}_{q^d}[x]\) is irreducible. Here is the main result of the paper: Theorem. For every positive integer \(n\), there exists an effective constant \(C(n)\) such that the conjecture above holds true for any triple \((q,n,d)\) with \(d\geq C(n)\). Moreover, for any such triple there is an explicit polynomial \(f\in \mathbb{F}_q[x]\) of degree \(n\) such that \(f-\alpha\) is irreducible in \(\mathbb{F}_{q^d}[x]\) for some \(\alpha\) generating \(\mathbb{F}_{q^d}\). For the entire collection see [Zbl 1516.11002].