A characterization of maximal and minimal Fermat curves (Q623243)

Let \({\mathcal C}(m)\) be the Fermat curve of degree \(m\) defined over \({\mathbb F}_{q^2}\) with \(q=p^n\): \[ X^m+Y^m=1. \] The author proves that \({\mathcal C}(m)\) is maximal over \({\mathbb F}_{q^2}\) if and only if \(m\) divides \(p^n+1\), and \({\mathcal C}(m)\) is minimal over \({\mathbb F}_{q^2}\) if and only if \(n\) is even and there is a divisor \(e\) of \(\frac n2\) such that \(m\) divides \(p^e+1\).