The rank of sparse random matrices over finite fields

Let M be a random (n×n)-matrix over GFq] such that for each entry M_ij in M and for each nonzero field element α the probability PrM_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