Exercise 8.23

Let f ( x 1 , x 2 , … , x n ) ∈ 𝔽 p [ x 1 , x 2 , … , x n ] . Let N be the number of zeros of f in 𝔽 p . Show that N = p n − 1 + p − 1 ∑ ⁡ a ≠ 0 ( ∑ x 1 , … , x n ζ af ( x 1 , … , x n ) ) .

Answers

Proof. Let A r = { ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) ∈ 𝔽 p n | f ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) = r } . Then 𝔽 p n = ⋃ ⁡ r ∈ 𝔽 p A r , so, for all a ∈ 𝔽 p ,

∑ ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) ∈ 𝔽 p n ζ af ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) = ∑ r ∈ 𝔽 p ∑ ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) ∈ A r ζ ar = ∑ r ∈ 𝔽 p | A r | ζ ar .

Let m ( r ) = | A r | = N ( f ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) = r ) . Then

∑ a ∈ 𝔽 p ∑ ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) ∈ 𝔽 p n ζ af ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) = ∑ a ∈ 𝔽 p ∑ r ∈ 𝔽 p m ( r ) ζ ar = ∑ r ∈ 𝔽 p m ( r ) ∑ a ∈ 𝔽 p ζ ar

As ∑ ⁡ a ∈ 𝔽 p ζ ar = 0 if r ≠ 0 , and ∑ ⁡ a ∈ 𝔽 p ζ ar = p if r = 0 , we obtain

∑ a ∈ 𝔽 p ∑ ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) ∈ 𝔽 p n ζ af ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) = m ( 0 ) p = pN .

Moreover

∑ a ∈ 𝔽 p ∑ ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) ∈ 𝔽 p n ζ af ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) = p n + ∑ a ∈ 𝔽 p ∗ ∑ ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) ∈ 𝔽 p n ζ af ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) ,

so

pN = p n + ∑ a ∈ 𝔽 p ∗ ∑ ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) ∈ 𝔽 p n ζ af ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) .

In conclusion,

N = p n − 1 + p − 1 ∑ a ∈ 𝔽 p ∗ ∑ ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) ∈ 𝔽 p n ζ af ( x 1 , x 2 , ⋯ , x n ) .

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2022-07-19 00:00
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