English

Maps preserving the sum-to-difference ratio in characteristic $p$

Number Theory 2025-07-29 v1 Commutative Algebra Rings and Algebras

Abstract

Given a field F\mathbb{F}, we introduce a novel group SD(F)SD(\mathbb{F}) of its self-maps: the solutions f ⁣:FFf \colon \mathbb{F} \twoheadrightarrow \mathbb{F} to the functional equation f((x+y)/(xy))=(f(x)+f(y))/(f(x)f(y))f \left( (x+y)/(x-y) \right) = (f(x) + f(y))/(f(x) - f(y)) for all xy x \neq y in F\mathbb{F}. We compute this group for all fields algebraic over Fp\mathbb{F}_p. In particular, this group distinguishes F5\mathbb{F}_5 among all finite fields Fq\mathbb{F}_q, and in fact among all subfields of Fq\overline{\mathbb{F}_q}.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2507.20604,
  title  = {Maps preserving the sum-to-difference ratio in characteristic $p$},
  author = {Sunil Chebolu and Apoorva Khare and Anindya Sen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.20604},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

15 pages, 0 figures, comments welcome

R2 v1 2026-07-01T04:21:41.552Z