Computing Zeta Functions of Cyclic Covers in Large Characteristic

Abstract

We describe an algorithm to compute the zeta function of a cyclic cover of the projective line over a finite field of characteristic $p$ that runs in time $p^{1/2 + o(1)}$. We confirm its practicality and effectiveness by reporting on the performance of our SageMath implementation on a range of examples. The algorithm relies on Gon\c{c}alves's generalization of Kedlaya's algorithm for cyclic covers, and Harvey's work on Kedlaya's algorithm for large characteristic.