arXiv · 2309.15304
On $2$-superirreducible polynomials over finite fields
Abstract
We investigate $k$-superirreducible polynomials, by which we mean irreducible polynomials that remain irreducible under any polynomial substitution of positive degree at most $k$. Let $\mathbb F$ be a finite field of characteristic $p$. We show that no $2$-superirreducible polynomials exist in $\mathbb F[t]$ when $p=2$ and that no such polynomials of odd degree exist when $p$ is odd. We address the remaining case in which $p$ is odd and the polynomials have even degree by giving an explicit formula for the number of monic 2-superirreducible polynomials having even degree $d$. This formula is analogous to that given by Gauss for the number of monic irreducible polynomials of given degree over a finite field. We discuss the associated asymptotic behaviour when either the degree of the polynomial or the size of the finite field tends to infinity.
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Jonathan W. Bober, Lara Du, Dan Fretwell, Gene S. Kopp, Trevor D. Wooley. 2023-09-26. On $2$-superirreducible polynomials over finite fields. https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.15304
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