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NOTE
Finite Fields
HELMUT MEYN
The aim of this note is to show that the (well-known) factorization of the 2n11th
n
cyclotomic polynomial x 2 1 1 over GF(q) with q ; 1 (mod 4) can be used to prove
the (more complicated) factorization of this polynomial over GF(q) with q ; 3
(mod 4). 1996 Academic Press, Inc.
n
The complete factorization of x 2 1 1 over GF(q) with q ; 3 (mod 4)
is given in the following theorem where reference is made to the Dickson
polynomials Ds(x, a). (For their definition see [4, Chapter 7 on permutation
polynomials]. For a proof of (b) see [4, Theorem 3.76].)
THEOREM 1. Let q ; 3 (mod 4), i.e., q 5 2Am 2 1, A $ 2, m odd. Let
n$2
n
(a) If n , A, then x 2 1 1 is the product of 2n21 irreducible trinomials
over GF(q)
x2 1 1 5 p (x2 1 cx 1 1),
n
c[G
n
(b) If n $ A, then x 2 1 1 is the product of 2A21 irreducible trinomials
over GF(q)
x 2 1 1 5 p (x 2
n n2A11 n2 A
1 dx2 2 1),
d [D
p
n
x2 1 1 5 (x 1 u).
u[Un11
n
● If n $ A 1 1, then ord2n11(q2) 5 2n2A and x 2 1 1 is the product of 2A
irreducible binomials over GF(q2) of degree 2n2A:
p
n n2A
x2 1 1 5 (x 2 1 u).
u[UA11
x2 1 (u 1 1/u)x 1 1.
S a
D as
Ds x 1 , a 5 x s 1 s
x x
n21 n
x 2 D2n21(x 6 1/x, 61) 5 x2 1 1. (2)
and
Hk 5 6 HS Du11
2
( p11)/4
J
: u [ Hk21
for k 5 2, 3, . . . , A 2 1 and
HA 5 6 HS Du21
2
( p11)/4
: u [ HA21 . J
Then, for 1 # k # A 2 1, Hk has a cardinality 2k21,
p
k
x2 1 1 5 (x2 2 2ux 1 1)
u[Hk
p
A1e e11 e
x2 115 (x 2 2 2ux 2 2 1).
u[HA
All the factors in the above products are irreducible over GF( p).
Note. Due to the simple relation 2 · Ï(u 6 1)/2 5 Ï(2 · u) 6 2 the roots
of the Dickson polynomials are halved in the above setting. Also,
Theorem 2 in [3] is an immediate consequence of Eq. (2).
Remark. The relation (2) can be interpreted as follows: the reciprocal
transformation applied to the 2n21th Dickson polynomial with parameter
61 leads to the 2n11th cyclotomic polynomial. See the last chapter in [6]
for a generalization of this. Also of interest in this context is [2].
REFERENCES
k
1. I. F. Blake, S. Gao, and R. C. Mullin, Explicit factorization of x 2 1 1 over Fp with prime
p ; 3(mod 4), Appl. Algebra Engrg. Comm. Comput. 4 (1993), 89–94.
2. S. D. Cohen, Polynomials over finite fields with large order and level, Bull. Korean Math.
Soc. 24 (1987), 83–96.
3. S. Gao and G. L. Mullen, Dickson polynomials and irreducible polynomials over finite
fields, J. Number Theory 49 (1994), 118–132.
4. R. Lidl and H. Niederreiter, ‘‘Finite Fields,’’ Encyclopedia of Mathematics and Its Applica-
tions, Vol. 20, Addison–Wesley, Reading, MA, 1983.
5. A. J. Menezes, I. F. Blake, S. Gao, R. C. Mullin, S. A. Vanstone, and T. Yaghoobian,
‘‘Applications of Finite Fields,’’ Kluwer Academic, Boston/Dordrecht/London, 1993.
6. Rivlin, T. J., ‘‘Chebyshev Polynomials: From Approximation Theory to Algebra and Num-
ber Theory,’’ 2nd ed., Wiley, New York, 1990.