Computational And Algorithmic Problems In Finite Fields

This volume presents an exhaustive treatment of computation and algorithms for finite fields. Topics covered include polynomial factorization, finding irreducible and primitive polynomials, distribution of these primitive polynomials and of primitive points on elliptic curves, constructing bases of various types, and new applications of finite fields to other araes of mathematics. For completeness, also included are two special chapters on some recent advances and applications of the theory of congruences (optimal coefficients, congruential pseudo-random number generators, modular arithmetic etc.), and computational number theory (primality testing, factoring integers, computing in algebraic number theory, etc.) The problems considered here have many applications in computer science, coding theory, cryptography, number theory and discrete mathematics. The level of discussion presuppose only a knowledge of the basic facts on finite fields, and the book can be recommended as supplementary graduate text. For researchers and students interested in computational and algorithmic problems in finite fields.

Because of their applications in so many diverse areas, finite fields continue to play increasingly important roles in various branches of modern mathematics, including number theory, algebra, and algebraic geometry, as well as in computer science, information theory, statistics, and engineering. Computational and algorithmic aspects of finite field problems also continue to grow in importance. This volume contains the refereed proceedings of a conference entitled Finite Fields: Theory, Applications and Algorithms, held in August 1993 at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Among the topics treated are theoretical aspects of finite fields, coding theory, cryptology, combinatorial design theory, and algorithms related to finite fields. Also included is a list of open problems and conjectures. This volume is an excellent reference for applied and research mathematicians as well as specialists and graduate students in information theory, computer science, and electrical engineering.

This volume contains the proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Finite Fields and Applications, held in Melbourne, Australia, July 9-13, 2007. It contains 5 invited survey papers as well as original research articles covering various theoretical and applied areas related to finite fields.Finite fields, and the computational and algorithmic aspects of finite field problems, continue to grow in importance and interest in the mathematical and computer science communities because of their applications in so many diverse areas. In particular, finite fields now play very important roles in number theory, algebra, and algebraic geometry, as well as in computer science, statistics, and engineering. Areas of application include algebraic coding theory, cryptology, and combinatorialdesign theory.

This book is mainly devoted to some computational and algorithmic problems in finite fields such as, for example, polynomial factorization, finding irreducible and primitive polynomials, the distribution of these primitive polynomials and of primitive points on elliptic curves, constructing bases of various types and new applications of finite fields to other areas of mathematics. For completeness we in clude two special chapters on some recent advances and applications of the theory of congruences (optimal coefficients, congruential pseudo-random number gener ators, modular arithmetic, etc.) and computational number theory (primality testing, factoring integers, computation in algebraic number theory, etc.). The problems considered here have many applications in Computer Science, Cod ing Theory, Cryptography, Numerical Methods, and so on. There are a few books devoted to more general questions, but the results contained in this book have not till now been collected under one cover. In the present work the author has attempted to point out new links among different areas of the theory of finite fields. It contains many very important results which previously could be found only in widely scattered and hardly available conference proceedings and journals. In particular, we extensively review results which originally appeared only in Russian, and are not well known to mathematicians outside the former USSR.

The theory of finite fields, whose origins can be traced back to the works of Gauss and Galois, has played a part in various branches in mathematics. Inrecent years we have witnessed a resurgence of interest in finite fields, and this is partly due to important applications in coding theory and cryptography. The purpose of this book is to introduce the reader to some of these recent developments. It should be of interest to a wide range of students, researchers and practitioners in the disciplines of computer science, engineering and mathematics. We shall focus our attention on some specific recent developments in the theory and applications of finite fields. While the topics selected are treated in some depth, we have not attempted to be encyclopedic. Among the topics studied are different methods of representing the elements of a finite field (including normal bases and optimal normal bases), algorithms for factoring polynomials over finite fields, methods for constructing irreducible polynomials, the discrete logarithm problem and its implications to cryptography, the use of elliptic curves in constructing public key cryptosystems, and the uses of algebraic geometry in constructing good error-correcting codes. To limit the size of the volume we have been forced to omit some important applications of finite fields. Some of these missing applications are briefly mentioned in the Appendix along with some key references.

The volume covers wide-ranging topics from Theory: structure of finite fields, normal bases, polynomials, function fields, APN functions. Computation: algorithms and complexity, polynomial factorization, decomposition and irreducibility testing, sequences and functions. Applications: algebraic coding theory, cryptography, algebraic geometry over finite fields, finite incidence geometry, designs, combinatorics, quantum information science.

Poised to become the leading reference in the field, the Handbook of Finite Fields is exclusively devoted to the theory and applications of finite fields. More than 80 international contributors compile state-of-the-art research in this definitive handbook. Edited by two renowned researchers, the book uses a uniform style and format throughout and