Proof of a conjectured three-valued family of Weil sums of binomials
We consider Weil sums of binomials of the form , where F is a finite field, ψ: F → ℂ is the canonical additive character, , and . If we fix F and d, and examine the values of as a runs through , we always obtain at least three distinct values unless d is degenerate (a power of the characteristic of F modulo ). Choices of F and d for which we obtain only three values are quite rare and desirable in a wide variety of applications. We show that if F is a field of order 3ⁿ with n odd, and with...