Quadratic characters of finite fields #
Further facts relying on Gauss sums.
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.
The value of the quadratic character at 2
2
is a square in F
iff #F
is not congruent to 3
or 5
mod 8
.
The value of the quadratic character at -2
-2
is a square in F
iff #F
is not congruent to 5
or 7
mod 8
.
The relation between the values of the quadratic character of one field F
at the
cardinality of another field F'
and of the quadratic character of F'
at the cardinality
of F
.
The value of the quadratic character at an odd prime p
different from ringChar F
.
An odd prime p
is a square in F
iff the quadratic character of ZMod p
does not
take the value -1
on χ₄#F * #F
.