$\mathbb{Z}_q$-valued generalized bent functions in odd characteristics

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate properties of functions from $\mathbb{Z}_{p}^n$ to $\mathbb{Z}_q$, where $p$ is an odd prime and $q$ is a positive integer divided by $p$. we present the sufficient and necessary conditions for bent-ness of such generalized Boolean functions in terms of classical $p$-ary bent functions, when $q=p^k$. When $q$ is divided by $p$ but not a power of it, we give an sufficient condition for weakly regular gbent functions. Some related constructions are also obtained.