Asymptotic uniformity conjecture for permanents over finite fields

From papers

Let qq be a prime power such that FbbFqFbb{F}_{q} has odd characteristic. For each positive integer nn, let AA be a uniformly random matrix in FbbFqn×nFbb{F}_{q}^{n\times n}, and write

per(A)=πSni=1nai,π(i).\operatorname{per}(A)=\sum_{\pi\in S_n}\prod_{i=1}^n a_{i,\pi(i)}.

Asymptotic uniformity conjecture. For every x\inFbbFqx\inFbb{F}_{q},

limnPr[per(A)=x]=1q.\lim_{n\to\infty}\Pr[\operatorname{per}(A)=x]=\frac{1}{q}.

The conjecture predicts that, unlike the determinant, the permanent of a uniformly random matrix over a finite field of odd characteristic becomes uniformly distributed as the matrix size tends to infinity. The source presents this as an open conjecture; characteristic two is excluded because the determinant and permanent coincide there.

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Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Zach Hunter, Matthew Kwan and Lisa Sauermann, “Permanents of random matrices over finite fields”, arXiv:2603.15856 (2026).

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