arXiv · 2402.10737
Triples and quadruples of consecutive squares or non-squares in a finite field
Abstract
Let $\F$ be the finite field of odd prime power order $q$, We find explicit expressions for the number of triples $\{\al-1,\al,\al+1 \}$ of consecutive non-zero squares in $\F$ and similarly for the number of triples of consecutive non-square elements. A key ingredient is the evaluation of Jacobsthal sums over general finite fields by Katre and Rajwade. This extends results of Monzingo(1985) to non-prime fields. Curiously, the same machinery alows the evaluation of the number of consecutive quadruples $\{\al -1, \al,\al+1, \al +2\}$ of square and non-squares over $\F$, when $q$ is a power of 5.
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Stephen D. Cohen. 2024-02-16. Triples and quadruples of consecutive squares or non-squares in a finite field. https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.10737
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