Nonlinear functions and difference sets on group actions

There are many generalizations of the classical Boolean bent functions. Let G, H be finite groups and let X be a finite G-set. G-perfect nonlinear functions from X to H have been studied in several papers. They are generalizations of perfect nonlinear functions from G itself to H. By introducing the concept of a (G, H)-related difference family of X, we obtain a characterization of G-perfect nonlinear functions on X in terms of a (G, H)-related difference family. When G is abelian, we prove that there is a normalized G-dual set \(\widehat{X}\) of X, and characterize a G-difference set of X by the Fourier transform on a normalized G-dual set \({{\widehat{X}}}\). We will also investigate the existence and constructions of G-perfect nonlinear functions and G-bent functions. Several known results (IEEE Trans Inf Theory 47(7):2934–2943, 2001; Des Codes Cryptogr 46:83–96, 2008; GESTS Int Trans Comput Sci Eng 12:1–14, 2005; Linear Algebra Appl 452:89–105, 2014) are direct consequences of our results.