Bent and generalized bent Boolean functions

In this paper, we investigate the properties of generalized bent functions defined on ${\mathbb{Z}_2^n}$ with values in ${\mathbb{Z}_q}$ , where q ≥ 2 is any positive integer. We characterize the class of generalized bent functions symmetric with respect to two variables, provide analogues of Maiorana–McFarland type bent functions and Dillon’s functions in the generalized set up. A class of bent functions called generalized spreads is introduced and we show that it contains all Dillon type generalized bent functions and Maiorana–McFarland type generalized bent functions. Thus, unification of two different types of generalized bent functions is achieved. The crosscorrelation spectrum of generalized Dillon type bent functions is also characterized. We further characterize generalized bent Boolean functions defined on ${\mathbb{Z}_2^n}$ with values in ${\mathbb{Z}_4}$ and ${\mathbb{Z}_8}$ . Moreover, we propose several constructions of such generalized bent functions for both n even and n odd.     

On the ranks of bent functions

The rank of a bent function is the 2-rank of the associated symmetric 2-design. In this paper, it is shown that it is an invariant under the equivalence relation among bent functions. Some upper and lower bounds of ranks of general bent functions, Maiorana–McFarland bent functions and Desarguesian partial spread bent functions are given. As a consequence, it is proved that almost every Desarguesian partial spread bent function is not equivalent to any Maiorana–McFarland bent function.     

On bent functions with some symmetric properties

This paper discusses a kind of bent functions that have some symmetric properties about some variables. Section 2 mainly discusses the bent functions symmetric about some two variables and gives the necessary and sufficient condition for these functions. Section 3 gives algebraic expressions of some bent functions.     

On the coefficients of binary bent functions

We prove a 2-adic inequality for the coefficients of binary bent functions in their polynomial representations. The 2-adic inequality implies a family of identities satisfied by the coefficients. The identities also lead to the discovery of some new affine invariants of Boolean functions on .

     

On the degree of homogeneous bent functions

In this paper, the degree of homogeneous bent functions is discussed. We prove that for any nonnegative integer k, there exists a positive integer N such that for n?N there exist no 2n- variable homogeneous bent functions having degree n-k or more, where N is the least integer satisfying .     

Gowers $$U_3$$ norm of some classes of bent Boolean functions

The Gowers \(U_3\) norm of a Boolean function is a measure of its resistance to quadratic approximations. It is known that smaller the Gowers \(U_3\) norm for a Boolean function larger is its resistance to quadratic approximations. Here, we compute Gowers \(U_3\) norms for some classes of Maiorana–McFarland bent functions. In particular, we explicitly determine the value of the Gowers \(U_3\) norm of Maiorana–McFarland bent functions obtained by using APN permutations. We prove that this value is always smaller than the Gowers \(U_3\) norms of Maiorana–McFarland bent functions obtained by using differentially \(\delta \)-uniform permutations, for all \(\delta \ge 4\). We also compute the Gowers \(U_3\) norms for a class of cubic monomial functions, not necessarily bent, and show that for \(n=6\), these norm values are less than that of Maiorana–McFarland bent functions. Further, we computationally show that there exist 6-variable functions in this class which are not bent but achieve the maximum second-order nonlinearity for 6 variables.     

Laced Boolean functions and subset sum problems in finite fields

In this paper, we investigate some algebraic and combinatorial properties of a special Boolean function on n variables, defined using weighted sums in the residue ring modulo the least prime p≥n. We also give further evidence relating to a question raised by Shparlinski regarding this function, by computing accurately the Boolean sensitivity, thus settling the question for prime number values p=n. Finally, we propose a generalization of these functions, which we call laced functions, and compute the weight of one such, for every value of n.     

A new class of bent and hyper-bent Boolean functions in polynomial forms

Bent functions are maximally nonlinear Boolean functions and exist only for functions with even number of inputs. This paper is a contribution to the construction of bent functions over ${\mathbb{F}_{2^{n}}}$ (n = 2m) having the form ${f(x) = tr_{o(s_1)} (a x^ {s_1}) + tr_{o(s_2)} (b x^{s_2})}$ where o(s _i ) denotes the cardinality of the cyclotomic class of 2 modulo 2 ⁿ ? 1 which contains s _i and whose coefficients a and b are, respectively in ${F_{2^{o(s_1)}}}$ and ${F_{2^{o(s_2)}}}$ . Many constructions of monomial bent functions are presented in the literature but very few are known even in the binomial case. We prove that the exponents s ₁ = 2 ^m ? 1 and ${s_2={\frac {2^n-1}3}}$ , where ${a\in\mathbb{F}_{2^{n}}}$ (a ?? 0) and ${b\in\mathbb{F}_{4}}$ provide a construction of bent functions over ${\mathbb{F}_{2^{n}}}$ with optimum algebraic degree. For m odd, we give an explicit characterization of the bentness of these functions, in terms of the Kloosterman sums. We generalize the result for functions whose exponent s ₁ is of the form r(2 ^m ? 1) where r is co-prime with 2 ^m  + 1. The corresponding bent functions are also hyper-bent. For m even, we give a necessary condition of bentness in terms of these Kloosterman sums.     

On the affine equivalence relation between two classes of Boolean functions with optimal algebraic immunity

Recently, two classes of Boolean functions with optimal algebraic immunity have been proposed by Carlet et al. and Wang et al., respectively. Although it appears that their methods are very different, it is proved in this paper that the two classes of Boolean functions are in fact affine equivalent. Moreover, the number of affine equivalence classes of these functions is also studied.     

Nonexistence of two classes of generalized bent functions

We obtain some new nonexistence results of generalized bent functions from \({\mathbb {Z}}^n_q\) to \({\mathbb {Z}}_q\) (called type [n, q]) in the case that there exist cyclotomic integers in \( {\mathbb {Z}}[\zeta _{q}]\) with absolute value \(q^{\frac{n}{2}}\). This result generalizes two previous nonexistence results \([n,q]=[1,2\times 7]\) of Pei (Lect Notes Pure Appl Math 141:165–172, 1993) and \([3,2\times 23^e]\) of Jiang and Deng (Des Codes Cryptogr 75:375–385, 2015). We also remark that by using a same method one can get similar nonexistence results of GBFs from \({\mathbb {Z}}^n_2\) to \({\mathbb {Z}}_m\).     

On the sum of two closed algebras of continuous functions on a compactum

Moscow Civil Engineering Institute. Translated from Funktsional'nyi Analiz i Ego Prilozheniya, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 33–36, January–March, 1993.     

On generalized Boolean functions i

In this paper we introduce the concept of generalized Boolean function. Such a function has its arguments and values in a Boolean algebra and can be written in a manner similar to the canonical disjunctive form, but instead of the product of simple or complemented variables, the product of values of certain functions is used. Every Boolean function is a generalized Boolean one but the converse is not true. The set of all generalized Boolean function “generated” by some fixed function is a Boolean algebra.     

On homogeneous rotation symmetric bent functions

In this paper, we present partial results towards the conjectured nonexistence of homogeneous rotation symmetric bent functions having degree > 2.     

On generalized Boolean functions II

This cycle of papers is based on the concept of generalized Bolean functions introduced by the author in the first article of the series. Every generalized Boolean function f:Bⁿ→B can be written in a manner similar to the canonical disjunctive form using some function defined on A×B, where A is a finite subset of B containing 0 and 1. The set of those functions f is denoted by GBF_n[A]. In this paper the following questions are presented: (1) What is the relationship between GBF_n[A₁] and GBF_n[A₂] when A₁A₂. (2) What can be said about GBF_n[A₁∩A₂] and GBF_n[A₁A₂] in comparison with GBF_n[A₁]∩GBF_n[A₂] and GBF_n[A₁]GBF_n[A₂], respectively.     

On designated-weight Boolean functions with highest algebraic immunity

Algebraic immunity has been considered as one of cryptographically significant properties for Boolean functions. In this paper, we study ∑d-1 i=0 (ni)-weight Boolean functions with algebraic immunity achiev-ing the minimum of d and n - d + 1, which is highest for the functions. We present a simpler sufficient and necessary condition for these functions to achieve highest algebraic immunity. In addition, we prove that their algebraic degrees are not less than the maximum of d and n - d + 1, and for d = n1 +2 their nonlinearities equalthe minimum of ∑d-1 i=0 (ni) and ∑ d-1 i=0 (ni). Lastly, we identify two classes of such functions, one having algebraic degree of n or n-1.     

On Boolean ranges of Banaschewski functions

We construct a countable lattice \({\varvec{\mathcal {S}}}\) isomorphic to a bounded sublattice of the subspace lattice of a vector space with two non-iso-morphic maximal Boolean sublattices. We represent one of them as the range of a Banaschewski function and we prove that this is not the case of the other. Hereby we solve a problem of F. Wehrung. We study coordinatizability of the lattice \({\varvec{\mathcal {S}}}\). We prove that although it does not contain a 3-frame, the lattice \({\varvec{\mathcal {S}}}\) is coordinatizable. We show that the two maximal Boolean sublattices correspond to maximal Abelian regular subalgebras of the coordinatizating ring.     

Maximal number of Boolean functions realized by an initial Boolean automaton with two constant states

The problem of realization of Boolean functions by initial Boolean automata with two constant states and n inputs is considered. An initial Boolean automaton with two constant states and n inputs is an initial automaton with output such that in all states the output functions are n-ary constant Boolean functions 0 or 1. The maximum cardinality of set of n-ary Boolean functions, where n > 1, realized by an initial Boolean automaton with two constant states and n inputs is obtained.     

On the arithmetic Walsh coefficients of Boolean functions

We generalize to the arithmetic Walsh transform (AWT) some results which were previously known for the Walsh–Hadamard transform of Boolean functions. We first generalize the classical Poisson summation formula to the AWT. We then define a generalized notion of resilience with respect to an arbitrary statistical measure of Boolean functions. We apply the Poisson summation formula to obtain a condition equivalent to resilience for one such statistical measure. Last, we show that the AWT of a large class of Boolean functions can be expressed in terms of the AWT of a Boolean function of algebraic degree at most three in a larger number of variables.     

On the Fourier spectrum of symmetric Boolean functions

We study the following questionWhat is the smallest t such that every symmetric boolean function on κ variables (which is not a constant or a parity function), has a non-zero Fourier coefficient of order at least 1 and at most t?We exclude the constant functions for which there is no such t and the parity functions for which t has to be κ. Let τ (κ) be the smallest such t. Our main result is that for large κ, τ (κ)≤4κ/logκ.The motivation for our work is to understand the complexity of learning symmetric juntas. A κ-junta is a boolean function of n variables that depends only on an unknown subset of κ variables. A symmetric κ-junta is a junta that is symmetric in the variables it depends on. Our result implies an algorithm to learn the class of symmetric κ-juntas, in the uniform PAC learning model, in time n ^o(κ) . This improves on a result of Mossel, O’Donnell and Servedio in [16], who show that symmetric κ-juntas can be learned in time n ^2κ/3.