Proof of a conjecture of Segre and Bartocci on monomial hyperovals in projective planes (Q690674)

Let \(q\) be an even prime power, and let \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q)\) be the Desarguesian projective plane of order \(q\). A set of points in \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q)\) of largest possible size such that no three are collinear has cardinality \(q+2\), and is called a hyperoval. Given a hyperoval \(D\) in \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q)\), one can choose a system of homogeneous coordinates so that \(D\) has the form \[ D(f(x)):=\{(1,x,f(x)) \mid x \in \mathbb{F}_q\} \cup \{(0,0,1), (0,1,0)\} \] where \(f(x)\) is a polynomial with certain properties. This paper is concerned with the case where \(f(x)\) is a monomial, i.e. \(f(x)=x^k\) for some positive integer \(k\). Segre has shown that if \(k=2^i\) or \(k=6\), then there are an infinite number of values of \(q\) such that the set \(D(x^k)\) is a monomial. The main result of this paper asserts that, for all other values of \(k\), \(D(x^k)\) is a hyperoval for at most a finite number of values of \(q\). This result had been conjectured by \textit{B. Segre} and \textit{U. Bartocci} [Acta Arith. 18, 423--449 (1971; Zbl 0219.50016)]. The proof of the main result is simplified by the following fact: \(D(x^k)\) is a hyperoval in \(\mathrm{PG}(2,q)\) if and only if the polynomial \(1+x+\dots + x^{k-1}\) is a permutation polynomial on \(\mathbb{F}_q\). This equivalence yields the main result for \(k\) odd; in addition the case when \({k\equiv2\pmod 4}\) was proved by Segre and Bartocci [loc. cit.]. Thus the bulk of this paper is concerned with the remaining case, \({k\equiv 0 \pmod 4}\). The proof relies on particular properties of a class of polynomials \(g_k(x,y,z)\) which is defined in the text, as well as Bezout's theorem on the intersection of algebraic curves.