Counting irreducible polynomials over finite fields

In this paper we generalize the method used to prove the Prime Number Theorem to deal with finite fields, and prove the following theorem:

Unimodular polynomial matrices over finite fields

Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics - We consider some combinatorial problems on matrix polynomials over finite fields. Using results from control theory, we give a proof of a result of Lieb, Jordan...     

Equivalence classes of matrices over finite fields

Let F=GF(q) denote the finite field of order q, and F_mn the ring of m×n matrices over F. Let Ω be a group of permutations of F. If A,B∈F_mn, then A is equivalent to B relative to Ω if there exists ?∈Ω such that ?(a_ij) = b_ij. Formulas are given for the number of equivalence classes of a given order and for the total number of classes induced by various permutation groups. In particular, formulas are given if Ω is the symmetric group on q letters, a cyclic group, or a direct sum of cyclic groups.     

Central polynomials for matrices over finite fields

Let c(x ₁,?…?,?x _d ) be a multihomogeneous central polynomial for the n?×?n matrix algebra M _n (K) over an infinite field K of positive characteristic p. We show that there exists a multihomogeneous polynomial c ₀(x ₁,?…?,?x _d ) of the same degree and with coefficients in the prime field 𝔽 _p which is central for the algebra M _n (F) for any (possibly finite) field F of characteristic p. The proof is elementary and uses standard combinatorial techniques only.     

Counting matrices over finite fields with support on skew Young diagrams and complements of Rothe diagrams

We consider the problem of finding the number of matrices over a finite field with a certain rank and with support that avoids a subset of the entries. These matrices are a q-analogue of permutations with restricted positions (i.e., rook placements). For general sets of entries, these numbers of matrices are not polynomials in q (Stembridge in Ann. Comb. 2(4):365, 1998); however, when the set of entries is a Young diagram, the numbers, up to a power of q?1, are polynomials with nonnegative coefficients (Haglund in Adv. Appl. Math. 20(4):450, 1998). In this paper, we give a number of conditions under which these numbers are polynomials in q, or even polynomials with nonnegative integer coefficients. We extend Haglund’s result to complements of skew Young diagrams, and we apply this result to the case where the set of entries is the Rothe diagram of a permutation. In particular, we give a necessary and sufficient condition on the permutation for its Rothe diagram to be the complement of a skew Young diagram up to rearrangement of rows and columns. We end by giving conjectures connecting invertible matrices whose support avoids a Rothe diagram and Poincaré polynomials of the strong Bruhat order.     

Cyclotomic matrices and hypergeometric functions over finite fields

With the help of hypergeometric functions over finite fields, we study some arithmetic properties of cyclotomic matrices involving characters and binary quadratic forms over finite fields. Also, we confirm some related conjectures posed by Zhi-Wei Sun.     

The number of irreducible polynomials over finite fields of characteristic 2 with given trace and subtrace

In this paper we obtained the formula for the number of irreducible polynomials with degree n over finite fields of characteristic two with given trace and subtrace. This formula is a generalization of the result of Cattell et al. (2003) [2].     

Distribution of matrices with restricted entries over finite fields

For a prime p, we consider some natural classes of matrices over a finite field F_p of p elements, such as matrices of given rank or with characteristic polynomial having irreducible divisors of prescribed degrees. We demonstrate two different techniques which allow us to show that the number of such matrices in each of these classes and also with components in a given subinterval [-H, H] [-(p - 1)/2, (p - 1)/2] is asymptotically close to the expected value.     

The rank of sparse random matrices over finite fields

Let M be a random (n×n)-matrix over GF[q] such that for each entry M_ij in M and for each nonzero field element α the probability Pr[M_ij=α] is p/(q−1), where p=(log n−c)/n and c is an arbitrary but fixed positive constant. The probability for a matrix entry to be zero is 1−p. It is shown that the expected rank of M is n−𝒪(1). Furthermore, there is a constant A such that the probability that the rank is less than n−k is less than A/q^k. It is also shown that if c grows depending on n and is unbounded as n goes to infinity, then the expected difference between the rank of M and n is unbounded. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 10 , 407–419, 1997     

Counting points on varieties over finite fields related to a conjecture of Kontsevich

We describe a characteristic-free algorithm for reducing an algebraic variety defined by the vanishing of a set of integer polynomials. In very special cases, the algorithm can be used to decide whether the number of points on a variety, as the ground field varies over finite fields, is a polynomial function of the size of the field. The algorithm is then used to investigate a conjecture of Kontsevich regarding the number of points on a variety associated with the set of spanning trees of any graph. We also prove several theorems describing properties of a (hypothetical) minimal counterexample to the conjecture, and produce counterexamples to some related conjectures.Partially supported by NSF Grant DMS-9700787 and RIMS, Kyoto University.     

Integral closures and weight functions over finite fields

Curves and surfaces of type I are generalized to integral towers of rank r. Weight functions with values in N^r and the corresponding weighted total-degree monomial orderings lift naturally from one domain R_j−1 in the tower to the next, R_j, the integral closure of R_j−1[x_j]/φ(x_j). The qth power algorithm is reworked in this more general setting to produce this integral closure over finite fields, though the application is primarily that of calculating the normalizations of curves related to one-point AG codes arising from towers of function fields. Every attempt has been made to couch all the theory in terms of multivariate polynomial rings and ideals instead of the terminology from algebraic geometry or function field theory, and to avoid the use of any type of series expansion.