Necessity and sufficiency for PcN power functions over finite fields

Let mm be a positive integer, let cGF(2m)c\in \operatorname{GF}(2^m), and let F(x)=xdF(x)=x^d be a power function over GF(2m)\operatorname{GF}(2^m). A function is PcN when its cc-differential uniformity is one. For a positive integer kk, write v2(k)v_2(k) for the exponent of 22 in kk, and interpret multiplicative inverses modulo 2m12^m-1 in the usual way.

PcN power-function conjecture. F(x)=xdF(x)=x^d is a PcN function if and only if one of the following conditions holds:

d=2jfor 0jm1,cGF(2m)\{1};d=2^j\quad\text{for }0\leq j\leq m-1,\qquad c\in \operatorname{GF}(2^m)\backslash\{1\};

or dd belongs to

{2j(2k+1):j=0,1,,m1}\left\{2^j(2^k+1):j=0,1,\ldots,m-1\right\}

or to the set of their multiplicative inverses modulo 2m12^m-1, for some positive integer kk satisfying v2(m)v2(k)v_2(m)\leq v_2(k), and

cGF(2gcd(k,m))\{1}.c\in \operatorname{GF}(2^{\gcd(k,m)})\backslash\{1\}.

The sufficiency is established by the preceding corollary, while numerical experiments verify the necessity for 2m102\leq m\leq 10. Whether the same characterization holds for every mm remains open.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Xiaoqiang Wang and Dabin Zheng, “Several classes of PcN power functions over finite fields”, arXiv:2104.12942 (2021).

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