Frobenius nonclassical components of curves with separated variables (Q746950)

Let \(\Gamma: F(x,y)=0\) be an irreducible plane curve defined over a finite field \(\mathbb F_q\). It is called \(q\)-Frobenius non-classical if the image of each of its simple points \(P\) under the Frobenius map lies on the tangent line at \(P\). It has been shown in 1986 by \textit{K.-O. Stöhr} and \textit{J. F. Voloch} [Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. (3) 52, 1--19 (1986; Zbl 0593.14020)] that for all other curves Weil's bound for the number of rational points can be improved. A characterization of \(q\)-Frobenius non-classical curves \(y^n-f(x)=0\) in case of odd \(q\) has been given by \textit{A. Garcia} [Arch. Math. 54, No. 1, 36--44 (1990; Zbl 0661.14019)]. The author presents a characterization of curves \(f(x)-g(y)=0\) whose all irreducible components are \(q\)-Frobenius non-classical by proving the following result (Corollary 3.5): Assume that \(f,g\in \mathbb F_q[X]\) are nonconstant and either \(\#(f(\mathbb F_q))\geq3\) or \(q\) is a power of \(2\) and \(\#(f(\mathbb F_q))=2\), and let \(\Gamma: f(x)-g(y)=0\). If all irreducible components of \(\Gamma\) are defined over \(\mathbb F_q\), then they are \(q\)-Frobenius non-classical if and only if both polynomials \(f,g\) are minimal value set polynomials and \(f(\mathbb F_q)=g(\mathbb F_q)\). Let us recall that a polynomial \(\Phi[X]\in \mathbb F_q[X]\) is a minimal value set polynomial if \[ \#\Phi(\mathbb F_q)=\lfloor (q-1)/\deg\Phi\rfloor. \] The case \(\#(f(\mathbb F_q))\leq2\) is treated in Theorems 4.1 and 4.4, the results having a more complicated form. The obtained characterization is then applied to the case \(\Gamma:\;y^n-f(x)=0\), leading to new proofs of results of Garcia's paper and extending them also to the case of even \(q\). Some new examples of \(q\)-Frobenius non-classical curves are given in the last section.