A characterization of the number of roots of linearized and projective polynomials in the field of coefficients

Abstract: A fundamental problem in the theory of linearized and projective polynomials over finite fields is to characterize the number of roots in the coefficient field directly from the coefficients. We prove results of this type, of a recursive nature. These results follow from our main theorem which characterizes the number of roots using the rank of a matrix that is smaller than the Dickson matrix.

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Let \(\mathbb F_q\) denote the finite field with \(q\) elements. Let \(\sigma\) be a generator of the automorphism group \(\text{Aut}(\mathbb F_{q^n}/\mathbb F_q)\), so \(x^\sigma=x^{q^s}\) for some \(1\le s\le n\) with \(\text{gcd}(n,s)=1\). A {\em \(\sigma\)-linearized polynomial} over \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) is a polynomial of the form \(L(x)=a_0x+a_1x^\sigma+\cdots+a_dx^{\sigma^d}\in\mathbb F_{q^n}[x]\), where \(a_d\ne0\) and \(d\) is called the \(\sigma\)-degree of \(L\). A \(\sigma\)-linearized polynomial over \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) represents an \(\mathbb F_q\)-linear map from \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) to \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) and every \(\mathbb F_q\)-linear map from \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) to \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) is represented by a unique \(\sigma\)-linearized polynomial over \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) with \(\sigma\)-degree \(\le n-1\). For each \(\sigma\)-linearized polynomial \(L(x)=\sum_{i=0}^da_ix^{\sigma^i}\), there is an associated {\em projective polynomial} \(P_L(x)=\sum_{i=0}^da_ix^{(\sigma^i-1)/(\sigma-1)}\). The objective of the paper is to develop a method that will allow people to determine the number of roots of \(L(x)\) and \(P_L(x)\) in \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) from the coefficients \(a_0,\dots,a_d\). It is well known that the number of roots of \(L(x)\) in \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) equals \(q^k\), where \(k\) is the nullity of the Dickson matrix of \(L\) which is an \(n\times n\) matrix. Instead of the Dickson matrix, the approach of the present paper is based a \(d\times d\) matrix \[ A_L=C_lC_L^\sigma\cdots C_L^{\sigma^{n-1}}, \] where \[ C_L=\left[ \begin{matrix} 0&\cdots&0&-a_0/a_d\cr 1&\cdots&0&-a_1/a_d\cr \vdots&\ddots&\vdots&\vdots\cr 0&\cdots&1&-a_{d-1}/a_d \end{matrix}\right]. \] The main results of the paper are the following statements: \begin{itemize} \item The number of roots of \(L(x)\) in \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) is \(q^{\text{null}(A_L-I)}\). More generally, for \(\alpha\in\mathbb F_{q^n}^*\), the number of roots of \(L_\alpha(x)=\sum_{i=0}^da_i\alpha^{(\sigma^i-1)/(\sigma-1)}x^{\sigma^i}\) in \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) is \(q^{\text{null}(A_L-\lambda I)}\), where \(\lambda\) is the norm of \(\alpha\) in \(\mathbb F_q\). \item The number of roots of \(P_L(x)\) in \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\) is \(\sum_{\lambda\in\mathbb F_q}(q^{n_\lambda}-1)/(q-1)\), where \(n_\lambda=\text{null}(A_L-\lambda I)\). \end{itemize} A good portion of the paper is devoted to the cases \(d=2\) and \(3\). In each of these two cases, the entries of \(A_L\) are expressed in terms of a sequence which can be computed from the coefficients of \(L\). Consequently, necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained for \(L(x)\) and \(P_L(x)\) to have a given number of roots in \(\mathbb F_{q^n}\).

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