This volume presents the results of the AMS-IMS-SIAM Joint Summer Research Conference held at the University of Washington (Seattle). The talks were devoted to various aspects of the theory of algebraic curves over finite fields and its numerous applications. The three basic themes are the following: 1. Curves with many rational points. Several articles describe main approaches to the construction of such curves: the Drinfeld modules and fiber product methods, the moduli space approach, and the constructions using classical curves. 2. Monodromy groups of characteristic $p$ covers. A number of authors presented the results and conjectures related to the study of the monodromy groups of curves over finite fields. In particular, they study the monodromy groups from genus 0 covers, reductions of covers, and explicit computation of monodromy groups over finite fields. 3. Zeta functions and trace formulas. To a large extent, papers devoted to this topic reflect the contributions of Professor Bernard Dwork and his students. This conference was the last attended by Professor Dwork before his death, and several papers inspired by his presence include commentaries about the applications of trace formulas and L-function. The volume also contains a detailed introduction paper by Professor Michael Fried, which helps the reader to navigate the material presented in the book.

This volume represents the refereed proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Finite Fields and Applications (F q5) held at the University of Augsburg (Germany) from August 2-6, 1999, and hosted by the Department of Mathematics. The conference continued a series of biennial international conferences on finite fields, following earlier conferences at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (USA) in August 1991 and August 1993, the University ofGlasgow (Scotland) in July 1995, and the University ofWaterloo (Canada) in August 1997. The Organizing Committee of F q5 comprised Thomas Beth (

Discussion of theory and applications of algebraic curves over finite fields with many rational points.

This book provides an accessible and self-contained introduction to the theory of algebraic curves over a finite field, a subject that has been of fundamental importance to mathematics for many years and that has essential applications in areas such as finite geometry, number theory, error-correcting codes, and cryptology. Unlike other books, this one emphasizes the algebraic geometry rather than the function field approach to algebraic curves. The authors begin by developing the general theory of curves over any field, highlighting peculiarities occurring for positive characteristic and requiring of the reader only basic knowledge of algebra and geometry. The special properties that a curve over a finite field can have are then discussed. The geometrical theory of linear series is used to find estimates for the number of rational points on a curve, following the theory of Stöhr and Voloch. The approach of Hasse and Weil via zeta functions is explained, and then attention turns to more advanced results: a state-of-the-art introduction to maximal curves over finite fields is provided; a comprehensive account is given of the automorphism group of a curve; and some applications to coding theory and finite geometry are described. The book includes many examples and exercises. It is an indispensable resource for researchers and the ideal textbook for graduate students.

Thisvolumerepresentstherefereedproceedingsofthe7thInternationalC- ference on Finite Fields and Applications (F 7) held during May 5-9, q 2003, in Toulouse, France. The conference was hosted by the Pierre Baudis C- gress Center, downtown, and held at the excellent conference facility. This event continued a series of biennial international conferences on Finite Fields and - plications, following earlier meetings at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (USA) in August 1991 and August 1993, the University of Glasgow (UK) in July 1995, the University of Waterloo (Canada) in August 1997, the Univ- sity of Augsburg (Germany) in August 1999, and the Universidad Aut ́ onoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, in Oaxaca (Mexico) in 2001. The Organizing Committee of F 7 consisted of Claude Carlet (INRIA, Paris, q France), Dieter Jungnickel (University of Augsburg, Germany), Gary Mullen (Pennsylvania State University, USA), Harald Niederreiter (National University of Singapore, Singapore), Alain Poli, Chair (Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France), Henning Stichtenoth (Essen University, Germany), and Horacio Tapia- Recillas (Universidad Aut ́ onoma Metropolitan-Iztapalapa, Mexico). The program of the conference consisted of four full days and one half day of sessions, with eight invited plenary talks, and close to 60 contributed talks.

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 of mathematics, in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in finite fields, and this is partly due to important applications in coding theory and cryptography. Applications of Finite Fields introduces some of these recent developments. This book focuses attention on some specific recent developments in the theory and applications of finite fields. While the topics selected are treated in some depth, Applications of Finite Fields does not attempt 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. This book is developed from a seminar held at the University of Waterloo. The purpose of the seminar was to bridge the knowledge of the participants whose expertise and interests ranged from the purely theoretical to the applied. As a result, this book will be of interest to a wide range of students, researchers and practitioners in the disciplines of computer science, engineering and mathematics. Applications of Finite Fields is an excellent reference and may be used as a text for a course on the subject.

This volume contains the proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Finite Fields and Applications, held in Ireland, July 13-17, 2009. It includes survey papers by all invited speakers as well as selected contributed papers. Finite fields continue to grow in mathematical importance due to applications in many diverse areas. This volume contains a variety of results advancing the theory of finite fields and connections with, as well as impact on, various directions in number theory, algebra, and algebraic geometry. Areas of application include algebraic coding theory, cryptology, and combinatorial design theory.

Finite fields are algebraic structures in which there is much research interest. This book gives a state-of-the-art account of finite fields and their applications in communications (coding theory, cryptology), combinatorics, design theory, quasirandom points, algorithms and their complexity. Typically, theory and application are tightly interwoven in the survey articles and original research papers included here. The book also demonstrates interconnections with other branches of pure mathematics such as number theory, group theory and algebraic geometry. This volume is an invaluable resource for any researcher in finite fields or related areas.

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.

Develops the theory of algebraic curves over finite fields, their zeta and L-functions and the theory of algebraic geometric Goppa codes.