English

On irreducible polynomials over finite fields

Number Theory 2012-10-16 v2 Combinatorics

Abstract

For n=1,2,3,... let N_n(q) denote the number of monic irreducible polynomials over the finite field F_q. We mainly show that the sequence N_n(q)^{1/n} (n>e^{3+7/(q-1)^2}) is strictly increasing and the sequence N_{n+1}(q)^{1/(n+1)}/N_n(q)^{1/n} (n>=5.835*10^{14}) is strictly decreasing. We also prove that if q>8 then N_{n+1}(q)/N_n(q) (n=1,2,3,...) is strictly increasing.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1210.1562,
  title  = {On irreducible polynomials over finite fields},
  author = {Zhi-Wei Sun},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1210.1562},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

7 pages. Add a result on N_{n+1}(q)/N_n(q) and its proof

R2 v1 2026-06-21T22:16:34.342Z