English

Maximal curves of genus 5 over finite fields

Number Theory 2025-09-19 v1 Algebraic Geometry

Abstract

A maximal curve over a finite field Fq\mathbb F_q is a curve whose number of points reaches the upper Hasse-Weil-Serre bound. We define the discriminant of Fq\mathbb F_q as d(Fq):=2q24qd(\mathbb F_q):= \lfloor2\sqrt{q}\rfloor^2-4q, which arises as the discriminant of the characteristic polynomial of the Frobenius for a maximal elliptic curve defined over Fq\mathbb F_q. In this article we investigate the existence of a maximal curve of genus 55 defined over a finite field Fq\mathbb F_q of discriminant 19-19. Using the knowledge on the automorphism group of such a curve, we prove that such curve does not exist when q2,3,4mod5q\equiv 2,3,4 \mod 5. In the case q1mod5q\equiv 1\mod 5 we give models of the potential maximal curve. Finally, for the case q0mod5q\equiv 0\bmod 5, we prove that such a curve might exist only for q=57q=5^7.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.14871,
  title  = {Maximal curves of genus 5 over finite fields},
  author = {Leolin Nkuete and Antigona Pajaziti and Hamide Suluyer and Rabia Gülşah Uysal},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.14871},
  year   = {2025}
}