On vectorial functions with maximal number of bent components (Q6956593)

The authors investigate functions \(F\) on \(\mathbb{F}_{2^n}\), \(n=2m\), with the maximal possible number 2\(^n-2^m\) of bent components. In the first part, the Walsh spectrum of functions of the form \(F(x) = x^{2^e} h(\mathrm{Tr}^{2^{2m}}_{2^m}(x))\), where \(e\ge 0\) and \(h(x)\) is a permutation over \(\mathbb{F}_{2^m}\) is analysed. It is shown that for \(h\) being a monomial, the nonlinearity of \(F\) is at most \(2^{m-1} - 2^{\lfloor 3m/2\rfloor}\). \N\NIn the second part, secondary constructions are presented. In the last part it is shown that the quadratic binomial function \(F:\mathbb{F}_{2^{2m}}\rightarrow \mathbb{F}_{2^{2m}}\) given by \(F(x) = x^{2^m +1} + x^{2^i +1}\), \(0 \le i\le m-1\), has \(2^n-2^m\) bent components if and only if \(i = 0\), i.e., \(F\) is affine equivalent to \(x^{2^m +1}\). The case when \(m\) is odd was shown in [\textit{L. Zheng} et al., Des. Codes Cryptography 88, No. 10, 2171--2186 (2020; Zbl 1454.94109)].