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Questions tagged [finite-fields]

A finite field is a field with a finite number of elements. For each prime power $q^k$, there is a unique (up to isomorphism) finite field with $q^k$ elements. Up to isomorphism, these are the only finite fields.

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13 votes
2 answers
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Number of commuting pairs (triples, n-tuples) in GL_n(F_q) (and other groups)?

Question 1 What is the number of pairs of commuting elements in GL_n(F_q) ? I am aware of many results concerning commuting elements in Mat_n(F_q), but I am interested in GL i.e. non-degenerate ...
Alexander Chervov's user avatar
67 votes
6 answers
7k views

How to recognise that the polynomial method might work

A couple of days ago I was at a nice seminar given by Christian Reiher, during which he told us about a short proof of the following special case of a theorem of Olson. Theorem. Let $(a_1,b_1),\dots,(...
gowers's user avatar
  • 29k
56 votes
14 answers
21k views

Fantastic properties of Z/2Z

Recently I gave a lecture to master's students about some nice properties of the group with two elements $\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$. Typically, I wanted to present simple, natural situations where the ...
32 votes
9 answers
5k views

How many groups of size at most n are there? What is the asymptotic growth rate? And what of rings, fields, graphs, partial orders, etc.?

Question. How many (isomorphism types of) finite groups of size at most n are there? What is the asymptotic growth rate? And the same question for rings, fields, graphs, partial orders, etc. ...
Joel David Hamkins's user avatar
23 votes
4 answers
3k views

Exhibit an explicit bijection between irreducible polynomials over finite fields and Lyndon words.

Let $q$ be a power of a prime. It's well-known that the function $B(n, q) = \frac{1}{n} \sum_{d | n} \mu \left( \frac{n}{d} \right) q^d$ counts both the number of irreducible polynomials of degree $n$...
Qiaochu Yuan's user avatar
22 votes
1 answer
4k views

maximal order of elements in GL(n,p)

I am looking for a formula for the maximal order of an element in the group $\operatorname{GL}\left(n,p\right)$, where $ p$ is prime. I recall seeing such a formula in a paper from the mid- or early ...
user27196's user avatar
  • 221
18 votes
5 answers
2k views

Good source for representation of GL(n) over finite fields?

I'd like to gain some understanding of unitary representations of GL(n) over finite fields. Any good source would be appreciated. ======== edit ========= My original question was ambiguous. ...
user1258240's user avatar
18 votes
1 answer
2k views

Conjecture: The number of points modulo $p$ of certain elliptic curve is $p$ or $p+2$ for $p$ of form $p=27a^2+27a+7$

Numerical evidence suggests a conjecture that the number of points of certain elliptic curve over $\mathbb{F}_p$ is either $p$ or $p+2$ for $p$ of certain form. Let $p$ be prime of the form $p=27a^2+...
joro's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
283 views

If number of points on a manifold is $q^n ( [n+1]_q )$ does it imply a geometric relation to $A^n (P^n)$?

Consider an algebraic manifold whose number of points is $q^n ([n+1]_q)$. Is there a geometric relation to $A^n (P^n)$? In particular, is there an equivalence in the Grothendieck ring of varieties ...
Alexander Chervov's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
1k views

Pointless groups

This question now has two sequels, Pointless groups II (to which @R.vanDobbendeBruyn gave a counterexample for an infinite, imperfect field) and Pointless groups III, both using revised wording ...
LSpice's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
807 views

How many Lie and associative algebras over a finite field are there?

This question is related to the following general question: Given a variety of (non-associative) algebras $\mathcal V$, a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$, with $q$ elements, and a positive integer $n$, ...
Thiago's user avatar
  • 398
0 votes
1 answer
242 views

Primes of the form $p=3a^2+3ab+b^2$ or $p=27a^2+27ab+7b^2$ and the number of points of $y^2=x^3+2$ modulo $p$

Trying to generalize this answered question based on limited numerical evidence. Let $E / \mathbb{F}_p : y^2=x^3+2$. Conjecture 1 Let $p=3a^2+3ab_0+b_0^2$ be prime and $a,b_0$ positive integers. ...
joro's user avatar
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22 votes
1 answer
969 views

Grothendieck on polyhedra over finite fields

In Grothendieck's Sketch of a Programme he spends a few pages discussing polyhedra over arbitrary rings and concludes with some intriguing remarks on specializing polyhedra over their "most ...
tghyde's user avatar
  • 528
21 votes
1 answer
584 views

Existence of a polynomial $Q$ of degree $\geq (p-1)/4$ in $\mathbb F_p[x]$ such that $QQ'$ factorizes into distinct linear factors

For all primes up to $p=89$ there exists a product $Q=\prod_{j=1}^d(x-a_j)$ involving $d\geq (p-1)/4$ distinct linear factors $x-a_j$ in $\mathbb F_p[x]$ such that $Q'$ has all its roots in $\mathbb ...
Roland Bacher's user avatar
19 votes
4 answers
2k views

Non-split extensions of $GL_n(F_q)$ by $F_q^n$ ?

A very naive question : I just learned that there is a non-split extension of $GL_3(F_2)$ by $F_2^3$ (with standard action). It can be realized as the subgroup of the automorphism group $G_2$ of ...
BS.'s user avatar
  • 9,389
18 votes
5 answers
8k views

Is $x^p-x+1$ always irreducible in $\mathbb F_p[x]$?

It seems that for any prime number $p$ and for any non-zero element $a$ in the finite field $\mathbb F_p$, the polynomial $x^p-x+a$ is irreducible over $\mathbb F_p$. (It is of course obvious that ...
Roland Bacher's user avatar
18 votes
2 answers
1k views

Has anyone seen this construction of the Weil representation of $\mathrm{Sp}_{2k}(\mathbb{F}_p)$?

$\def\FF{\mathbb{F}}\def\CC{\mathbb{C}}\def\QQ{\mathbb{Q}}\def\Sp{\text{Sp}}\def\SL{\text{SL}}\def\GL{\text{GL}}\def\PGL{\text{PGL}}$Let $p$ be an odd prime. The Weil representation is a $p^k$-...
David E Speyer's user avatar
16 votes
3 answers
2k views

Periodic orbits and polynomials

There are two simple and classic enumerations that still I'm puzzled about. Let's start with a simple counting problem from a well-known dynamical system. fact 1 Consider the "tent map" f:[0,1]→[...
Pietro Majer's user avatar
  • 60.5k
16 votes
2 answers
1k views

Examples of problems where considering "discrete analogues" has provided insight or led to a solution of the original problem

The Kakeya conjecture posits that any Kakeya set in $\mathbb{R}^n$ has dimension $n$. A discrete (finitized?) version of this problem is the Finite Field Kakeya conjecture, which was proved by Dvir ...
14 votes
3 answers
978 views

Zeta function of Abelian variety over finite field

Let $A/\mathbf{F}_q$ be an Abelian variety of dimension $g$. Suppose one knows $|A(\mathbf{F}_{q^n})|$ for all $1 \leq n \leq g$. Does one know then $\zeta(A,s)$ (equivalently, $|A(\mathbf{F}_{q^n})|$ ...
user avatar
14 votes
3 answers
3k views

Quadratic reciprocity and Weil reciprocity theorem

I was told that Weil reciprocity theorem (one has two meromorphic function $f,g$ on a complex curve $C$, so $\prod\limits_{x\in C} g(x)^{ord_xf}=\prod\limits_{x\in C}f(x)^{ord_xg} \ $ where $ord_xf$ ...
Nikita Kalinin's user avatar
14 votes
3 answers
1k views

Probability of coprime polynomials

Given positive integer $N$, we choose $m_1, m_2, n_1, n_2$ independently and with equal probabilities from $\{0,1,\ldots,N\}$, and let $f_1 = x^{m_1} + (1+x)^{n_1}$ and $f_2 = x^{m_2} + (1+x)^{n_2}$ ...
Robert Israel's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
655 views

Number triangle

This question arose just out of curiosity. Note the triangle of 0-1's below, whose construction is as follows. Choose any number, say 53 as done here. The first line of the triangle is the binary ...
DSM's user avatar
  • 1,216
13 votes
1 answer
468 views

Near-linear mappings from $\mathbb F_p$ to $\mathbb R$

$\newcommand{\F}{{\mathbb F}}$ $\newcommand{\R}{{\mathbb R}}$ $\renewcommand{\phi}{\varphi}$ Let $p\ge 5$ be a prime. If the functions $\phi_1,\phi_2,\phi_3\colon\F_p\to\R$ satisfy $\phi_1(x)+\...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
12 votes
1 answer
1k views

Related Forms for the Riemann Hypothesis over Function Fields

There are several formulations and consequences of the Riemann Hypothesis over Function Fields (RH, from now on). I am interested in the logical implications between those, and in proofs\references ...
Ofir Gorodetsky's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
788 views

Blocking sets in three dimensional finite affine spaces

What is the smallest possible size of a set of points in $\mathbb{F}_q^3$ which intersects (blocks) every line? Clearly the union of three affine hyperplanes that intersect in a singleton, say $x = 0,...
Anurag's user avatar
  • 1,197
11 votes
2 answers
574 views

Are $E_n$-operads not formal in characteristic not equal to zero?

This is a short question: Is it just unproven folklore (yet), or is it definitively known that $E_n$-operads are not formal, if the characteristic of the underlying field is not equal to zero?
Mark.Neuhaus's user avatar
  • 2,074
10 votes
1 answer
561 views

How many rich directions does a set in $\mathbb F_p^2$ determine?

$\newcommand{\F}{\mathbb F}$ A subset $P$ of the affine plane $\F_p^2$ is said to determine a direction if there is a line in this direction containing at least two points of $P$. A set of size $|P|&...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
10 votes
2 answers
2k views

Richardson varieties over finite fields

Let me start with some background to set the notation before I ask my question. Let G be a semisimple algebraic group over some algebraically closed field K, and suppose we have fixed a Borel ...
Steven Sam's user avatar
  • 10.7k
9 votes
1 answer
425 views

Are there functions $\mathbb{F}_2^n \to \mathbb{F}_2$ satisfying these special relations?

Let $\mathbb{F}_2=\{0,1\}$ be the field with two elements, and let $u:\mathbb{F}_2^n\rightarrow \mathbb{F}_2$. Suppose that $n$ is odd. Is it possible that $$ \sum_{x \in \mathbb{F}_2^n}(-1)^{u(x)+u(...
Asaf Shachar's user avatar
  • 6,741
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is an example of a smooth variety over a finite field F_p which does not lift to Z_p?

Somebody answered this question instead of the question here, so I am asking this with the hope that they will cut and paste their solution.
David Zureick-Brown's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
5k views

Algorithms to find irreducible polynomials of a given degree

I need to know what are the efficient algorithms to find all the irreducible polynomials of a given degree, say $d$ over a given finite field, say $\mathbb{F}_{p^n}.$ One way is to factorize the ...
Pritam Majumder's user avatar
8 votes
0 answers
304 views

A strong sum-product "for translates" in finite fields

In the course of some recent research, I've sketched out a proof of the following result. My basis question is: is the result interesting? Proposition There exists an absolute constant $c$ such ...
Nick Gill's user avatar
  • 11.2k
7 votes
1 answer
812 views

Galois action on $p$-adic Tate module of Abelian variety over finite field semisimple?

Let $A,B$ be positive dimensional Abelian varieties over a finite field and $p$ be an arbritrary prime. By Zarhin, Homomorphisms of abelian varieties over finite fields http://www.math.nyu.edu/~...
user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
3k views

Calculus over finite fields

$P(x,y,z)$ is a polynomial function on an algebraic surface $S$ in $F_{q}^{3}$. Suppose that the derivative of $P$ along any tangent vector of $S$ is zero. Can we say that $P$ is constant on $S$? ...
Ben's user avatar
  • 79
7 votes
3 answers
2k views

Fast Vandermonde matrix multiplication over finite field

Let $V_{i,j}=x_i^j$ where $x_i\in\mathbb F_q$ for $1\le i\le n,1\le j\le n$ be a Vandermonde matrix over finite field $\mathbb F_q$. I wish to know the currently known fastest algorithms for ...
tckwok's user avatar
  • 207
7 votes
0 answers
133 views

Removing rows to reduce the rank

What is the smallest number of rows one can delete from a matrix to reduce its rank (by $1$)? Is there any standard name / notation for this characteristic? Has it been studied? I am in fact ...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
7 votes
0 answers
276 views

Cyclic shift acting on finite Grassmannian

The (twisted) cyclic shift $(v_1,v_2,\ldots,v_n) \mapsto (v_2,v_3,\ldots,v_n,(-1)^{k-1}v_1)$ acting on the Grassmannian $\mathrm{Gr}(\mathbb{C};k,n)$ of $k$-planes in $\mathbb{C}^n$ is an important ...
Sam Hopkins's user avatar
  • 24.2k
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

How can I solve a cubic equation in a finite field with characteristic 2?

I need to solve the usual cubic equation $x^3 + ax^2 + bx + c = 0$ over a finite field $GF(2^n)$. This is to avoid doing a brute-force Chien search in a BCH decoder. I read in a paper about an easy ...
Dimitri's user avatar
  • 87
6 votes
0 answers
342 views

What is known about the $q$-analogue of the simplex?

I am interested in the field with one element. I am thus interested in combinatorial interpretations of the Gaussian binomial coefficients. Richard Stanley's "Enumerative combinatorics" mentions ...
Andrius Kulikauskas's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
368 views

Number of points on a linear algebraic group over a finite field

Let $G$ be a linear algebraic group defined over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ as a variety of dimension $d$. What would be a good, simple lower bound for $G(F_q)$? One can get something fairly nice ...
H A Helfgott's user avatar
  • 20.2k
6 votes
1 answer
378 views

Enumeration of field generators of a finite field over $\mathbb{F}_{q}$, which are $m^{th}$ powers in the same field

Consider the finite field extension $\mathbb{F}_{{q}^{d}}$ over $\mathbb{F}_{q}$, where $q=p^a$ for some prime $p$. We assume $d\geq 2$. Let, $$ S=\{ \alpha \in \mathbb{F}_{q^d}\hspace{0.1 cm} | \...
Riju's user avatar
  • 428
6 votes
1 answer
331 views

Which criteria for "uniformly splitting" polynomials?

Let $P(x)$ be an irreducible monic polynomial of degree $\ge4$ with integer coefficients. We all know that over a finite field $\mathbb F_p$, $P$ will often split, and I am interested in polynomials ...
Wolfgang's user avatar
  • 13.4k
6 votes
3 answers
437 views

On the rank of a matrix $S$ with coefficients in $\mathbb F_{2^m}$

Let $\mathbb F$ be a finite field with characteristic 2 and let $S \in M(2k, 2k, \mathbb F)$ be the matrix defined as follows $$ S=\left[\begin{array}{ccccccc} 0 & \...
Sfarla's user avatar
  • 307
6 votes
0 answers
652 views

Counting the number of linearly independent primitive elements of a field extension

Let $L/K$ be a field extension with extension degree $n>1$. We say $L/K$ is simple if $L=K(a)$ for some a in $L$. In this case, $a$ is called a primitive element. My question is now about the ...
Shahab's user avatar
  • 429
6 votes
1 answer
499 views

Do you know which is the minimal local ring that is not isomorphic to its opposite?

The most popular examples are non-local rings and minimal has 16 elements. I am interested in knowing examples of local rings not isomorphic to their opposite.
José María Grau Ribas's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
459 views

$(n-2)$-blocking sets in $AG(n,2)$

Let's define $k$-blocking set in affine space $AG(n,q)$ a set that meets every coset (translate of subspace) of dimension $k$. I have seen a lot work related to minimal $(n-1)$-blockings set. ...
Ashot's user avatar
  • 337
5 votes
1 answer
432 views

Image of a polynomial function $x^2+y^2-x+y-axy$ over $\mathbb{F}_p$

Let $p$ be an odd prime and $h(x)=x^2+ax+1$ be an irreducible polynomial over the field $\mathbb{F}_p$. I need to prove that the function $$\Psi: \mathbb{F}_p^2 \longrightarrow \mathbb{F}_p, \quad (x,...
marcos's user avatar
  • 457
5 votes
1 answer
432 views

Number of roots of a quadratic form over GF(2)

If $Q(x) = x^T A x$ with $x \in GF(2)^n$ and $A \in GF(2)^{n \times n}$, is there a way to find how many roots $Q(x)$ has based on any properties of $A$ (e.g., rank, etc.)?
Fabio Dias's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
993 views

Full-rank rectangular matrices over GF(2)

Given positive integers $k$, $m$, $n$, let $A$ be an $m \times n$ matrix over $GF(2)$ constructed as follows. Let $X_1, \ldots, X_m$ be independent random subsets of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$ with cardinality ...
Robert Israel's user avatar