Connected components of the graph generated by power maps in prime finite fields

Abstract

Consider the power pseudorandom-number generator in a finite field ${\mathbb F}_q$. That is, for some integer $e\ge2$, one considers the sequence $u,u^e,u^{e^2},\dots$ in ${\mathbb F}_q$ for a given seed $u\in {\mathbb F}_q^\times$. This sequence is eventually periodic. One can consider the number of cycles that exist as the seed $u$ varies over ${\mathbb F}_q^\times$. This is the same as the number of cycles in the functional graph of the map $x\mapsto x^e$ in ${\mathbb F}_q^\times$. We prove some estimates for the maximal and average number of cycles in the case of prime finite fields.