Gauss sums #
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We define the Gauss sum associated to a multiplicative and an additive character of a finite field and prove some results about them.
Main definition #
Let R
be a finite commutative ring and let R'
be another commutative ring.
If χ
is a multiplicative character R → R'
(type mul_char R R'
) and ψ
is an additive character R → R'
(type add_char R R'
, which abbreviates
(multiplicative R) →* R'
), then the Gauss sum of χ
and ψ
is ∑ a, χ a * ψ a
.
Main results #
Some important results are as follows.
gauss_sum_mul_gauss_sum_eq_card
: The product of the Gauss sums ofχ
andψ
and that ofχ⁻¹
andψ⁻¹
is the cardinality of the source ringR
(ifχ
is nontrivial,ψ
is primitive andR
is a field).gauss_sum_sq
: The square of the Gauss sum isχ(-1)
times the cardinality ofR
if in additionχ
is a quadratic character.quad_gauss_sum_frob
: For a quadratic characterχ
, raising the Gauss sum to thep
th power (wherep
is the characteristic of the target ringR'
) multiplies it byχ p
.char.card_pow_card
: WhenF
andF'
are finite fields andχ : F → F'
is a nontrivial quadratic character, then(χ (-1) * #F)^(#F'/2) = χ (#F')
.finite_field.two_pow_card
: For every finite fieldF
of odd characteristic, we have2^(#F/2) = χ₈(#F)
inF
.
This machinery can be used to derive (a generalization of) the Law of Quadratic Reciprocity.
Tags #
additive character, multiplicative character, Gauss sum
Definition and first properties #
The product of two Gauss sums #
We have gauss_sum χ ψ * gauss_sum χ⁻¹ ψ⁻¹ = fintype.card R
when χ
is nontrivial and ψ
is primitive (and R
is a field).
When χ
is a nontrivial quadratic character, then the square of gauss_sum χ ψ
is χ(-1)
times the cardinality of R
.
Gauss sums and Frobenius #
When R'
has prime characteristic p
, then the p
th power of the Gauss sum
of χ
and ψ
is the Gauss sum of χ^p
and ψ^p
.
For a quadratic character χ
and when the characteristic p
of the target ring
is a unit in the source ring, the p
th power of the Gauss sum ofχ
and ψ
is
χ p
times the original Gauss sum.
For a quadratic character χ
and when the characteristic p
of the target ring
is a unit in the source ring and n
is a natural number, the p^n
th power of the Gauss
sum ofχ
and ψ
is χ (p^n)
times the original Gauss sum.
Values of quadratic characters #
If the square of the Gauss sum of a quadratic character is χ(-1) * #R
,
then we get, for all n : ℕ
, the relation (χ(-1) * #R) ^ (p^n/2) = χ(p^n)
,
where p
is the (odd) characteristic of the target ring R'
.
This version can be used when R
is not a field, e.g., ℤ/8ℤ
.
When F
and F'
are finite fields and χ : F → F'
is a nontrivial quadratic character,
then (χ(-1) * #F)^(#F'/2) = χ(#F')
.
The quadratic character of 2 #
This section proves the following result.
For every finite field F
of odd characteristic, we have 2^(#F/2) = χ₈(#F)
in F
.
This can be used to show that the quadratic character of F
takes the value
χ₈(#F)
at 2
.
The proof uses the Gauss sum of χ₈
and a primitive additive character on ℤ/8ℤ
;
in this way, the result is reduced to card_pow_char_pow
.