Cubic Monomial Bent Functions: A Subclass of $\mathcal{M}$

Abstract

Based on a computer search, Anne Canteaut conjectured that the exponent $2^{2r}+2^r+1$ in ${\bf F}_{2^{6r}}$ and the exponent $(2^{r}+1)^2$ in ${\bf F}_{2^{4r}}$ yield bent monomial functions. These conjectures are proved in [A. Canteaut, P. Charpin, and G. Kyureghyan, A new class of monomial bent functions, in Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, (ISIT 06 Seattle), IEEE Press, Piscataway, NJ, 2006, pp. 903-906] and [N. G. Leander, IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, 52 (2006), pp. 738-743]. Both exponents are of binary weight $3$ and define functions from the Maiorana-McFarland class $\mathcal{M}$ of bent functions to the subfield. In this paper we show that these are the only such exponents. Our proof is based on the classification of the permutation binomials $X^{2^k+2}+ \nu X$ of finite fields of even characteristics. We also extend the result of Leander, determining all bent monomial functions with the exponent $(2^{r}+1)^2$.