On diagonal equations over finite fields

DOI10.1016/J.FFA.2021.101927MaRDI QIDQ5919128zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors José Alves Oliveira

Publication date 2 November 2021

Published in Finite Fields and their Applications (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.12232

zbMATH Keywords

diagonal equations finite fields quadratic forms

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Other character sums and Gauss sums (11T24) Finite fields (field-theoretic aspects) (12E20)

Abstract: Let

m a t h b b F_{q}

be a finite field with

q = p^{t}

elements. In this paper, we study the number of solutions of equations of the form

a_{1} x_{1}^{d_{1}} + d o t s + a_{s} x_{s}^{d_{s}} = b

over

m a t h b b F_{q}

. A classic well-konwn result from Weil yields a bound for such number of solutions. In our main result we give an explicit formula for the number of solutions for diagonal equations satisfying certain natural restrictions on the exponents. In the case

d_{1} = d o t s = d_{s}

, we present necessary and sufficient conditions for the number of solutions of a diagonal equation being maximal and minimal with respect to Weil's bound. In particular, we completely characterize maximal and minimal Fermat type curves.

Review text

Let \(q=p^n\), where \(p\) is an odd prime and \(n\) is a positive even integer. Let \(t_1,\dots,t_s\) be positive integers such that \(2t_i\mid n\) for all \(1\le i\le s\). Consider the diagonal equation \[ a_1x_1^{d_1}+\cdots+a_sx_s^{d_s}=b, \] where \(b\in\mathbb F_q\), \(a_i\in\mathbb F_q^*\), and \(2\le d_i\mid p^{2t_i}-1\). Let \(\vec a=(a_1,\dots,a_s)\), \(\vec d=(d_1,\dots,d_s)\), \(\vec t=(2t_1,\dots,2t_s)\), and let \(N_s(\vec a, \vec d,\vec t,q,b)\) denote the number of solutions \((x_1,\dots,x_s)\) of the above equation with \(x_i\in\mathbb F_{p^{2t_i}}\). The main objective of the paper is to develop explicit formulas for this number under certain conditions on the exponents \(d_1,\dots,d_s\). For positive integers \(d\) and \(r\), \(d\) is said to be {\em \((p,r)\)-admissible} if \(r\) is the smallest positive integer such that \(d\mid p^r+1\). When \(d=2\), \(d\) is \((p,1)\)-admissible. When \(d>2\), \(d\) is \((p,r)\)-admissible if and only if the multiplicative order of \(p\) in \(\mathbb Z/d\mathbb Z\) is \(2r\). Under the assumption that each \(d_i\) is \((p,r_i)\)-admissible, explicit formulas for \(N_s(\vec a, \vec d,\vec t,q,0)\) and for \(N_s(\vec a, \vec d,\vec t,q,b)\) with \(b\in\mathbb F_q^*\) and \(d_1=\cdots=d_s=d\) are derived (Theorem~2.4 and Corollary~2.6). An estimate for \(N_s(\vec a, \vec d,\vec t,q,0)\) is obtained (Corollary~2.7). The case with \(\vec t=(n,\dots,n)\), where \(N_s(\vec a, \vec d,\vec t,q,b)\) is denoted by \(N_s(\vec a,\vec d,q,b)\), is covered in Theorem~2.9, Corollary~2.10 and Theorem~2.11. These formulas generalize some previous results by other authors on the number of solutions of diagonal equations over finite fields. The computations in the paper largely rely on two facts: 1. \(\text{Tr}_{q/p}(ax^{p^r+1})\), where \(a\in\mathbb F_q^*\), is a quadratic form and the number of solutions of the equation \(\text{Tr}_{q/p}(ax^{p^r+1})=\lambda\) is known. 2. The Gauss quadratic sum and certain Jacobi sums are known. When \(d_1=\cdots=d_s=d>2\), \((s,b)\ne(2,0)\), \((s,d,b)\ne(4,3,0)\) and \((s,d)\ne(3,3)\) if \(b\ne 0\), it is shown that if \(N_s(\vec a,\vec d,q,b)\) attains the upper or lower bounds by Weil, then \(d\) is \((p,r)\)-admissible for some positive integer \(r\). Moreover, under these assumptions, necessary and sufficient conditions in terms of \(\vec a\), \(d\), \(n\), \(r\), \(b\) are found for \(N_s(\vec a,\vec d,q,b)\) to be maximal or minimal (Theorem~2.14).

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