Difference sets and three-weight linear codes from trinomials (Q6156905)

The construction of difference sets over finite fields is useful in studying combinatorial designs, error-correcting codes and cryptography. A subset \(D\) with \(k\) elements of a group \(G\) of order \(v\) is said to be a \((v,k,\lambda)\)-\emph{difference set } if for every \(g\in G\), there are exactly \(\lambda\) ordered pairs \((a,b)\in D\times D\) such that \(g=ab^{-1}\). A simple counting argument states the relation \(k(k-1)=\lambda(v-1)\). For a given \(f\in \mathbb{F}_{2^m}[x]\), the set \(D(f)^*=\{f(x):x\in \mathbb{F}_{2^m}^*\}\setminus\{0\}\) is called the punctured value-set of \(f\) in \(\mathbb{F}_{2^m}^*\). In this paper, the authors are interested in the construction of cyclic difference sets and linear codes from polynomials and rational functions defined over \(\mathbb{F}_{2^m}\), where \(m\) is odd. They confirm a conjecture of Cunsheng Ding claiming that the punctured value-sets of a list of eleven trinomials in \(\mathbb{F}_{2^m}[x]\) is a difference set in the multiplicative group \(\mathbb{F}_{2^m}^*\) with Singer parameters \((2^m-1, 2^{m-1}, 2^{m-2})\). They also give the partial resolution of another conjecture of Cunsheng Ding claiming that linear codes constructed from these eleven trinomials are three-weight.