Integral point sets over finite fields

Abstract

We consider point sets in the affine plane $\mathbb{F}_q^2$ where each Euclidean distance of two points is an element of $\mathbb{F}_q$. These sets are called integral point sets and were originally defined in $m$-dimensional Euclidean spaces $\mathbb{E}^m$. We determine their maximal cardinality $\mathcal{I}(\mathbb{F}_q,2)$. For arbitrary commutative rings $\mathcal{R}$ instead of $\mathbb{F}_q$ or for further restrictions as no three points on a line or no four points on a circle we give partial results. Additionally we study the geometric structure of the examples with maximum cardinality.