Quadratic characters of finite fields #
This file defines the quadratic character on a finite field F
and proves
some basic statements about it.
Tags #
quadratic character
Definition of the quadratic character #
We define the quadratic character of a finite field F
with values in ℤ.
Define the quadratic character with values in ℤ on a monoid with zero α
.
It takes the value zero at zero; for non-zero argument a : α
, it is 1
if a
is a square, otherwise it is -1
.
This only deserves the name "character" when it is multiplicative,
e.g., when α
is a finite field. See quadraticCharFun_mul
.
We will later define quadraticChar
to be a multiplicative character
of type MulChar F ℤ
, when the domain is a finite field F
.
Equations
- quadraticCharFun α a = if a = 0 then 0 else if IsSquare a then 1 else -1
Instances For
Basic properties of the quadratic character #
We prove some properties of the quadratic character.
We work with a finite field F
here.
The interesting case is when the characteristic of F
is odd.
Some basic API lemmas
If ringChar F = 2
, then quadraticCharFun F
takes the value 1
on nonzero elements.
If ringChar F
is odd, then quadraticCharFun F a
can be computed in
terms of a ^ (Fintype.card F / 2)
.
The quadratic character is multiplicative.
The quadratic character as a multiplicative character.
Equations
- quadraticChar F = { toFun := quadraticCharFun F, map_one' := ⋯, map_mul' := ⋯, map_nonunit' := ⋯ }
Instances For
The value of the quadratic character on a
is zero iff a = 0
.
For nonzero a : F
, quadraticChar F a = 1 ↔ IsSquare a
.
The quadratic character takes the value 1
on nonzero squares.
The square of the quadratic character on nonzero arguments is 1
.
The quadratic character is 1
or -1
on nonzero arguments.
The quadratic character is 1
or -1
on nonzero arguments.
For a : F
, quadraticChar F a = -1 ↔ ¬ IsSquare a
.
If F
has odd characteristic, then quadraticChar F
takes the value -1
.
If F
has odd characteristic, then quadraticChar F
takes the value -1
on some unit.
If ringChar F = 2
, then quadraticChar F
takes the value 1
on nonzero elements.
If ringChar F
is odd, then quadraticChar F a
can be computed in
terms of a ^ (Fintype.card F / 2)
.
The quadratic character is quadratic as a multiplicative character.
The quadratic character is nontrivial as a multiplicative character when the domain has odd characteristic.
The number of solutions to x^2 = a
is determined by the quadratic character.
The sum over the values of the quadratic character is zero when the characteristic is odd.
Special values of the quadratic character #
We express quadraticChar F (-1)
in terms of χ₄
.
The value of the quadratic character at -1
-1
is a square in F
iff #F
is not congruent to 3
mod 4
.