Explicit Representatives and Sizes of Cyclotomic Cosets and their Application to Cyclic Codes over Finite Fields

Abstract

Cyclotomic coset is a classical notion in the theory of finite field which has wide applications in various computation problems. Let $q$ be a prime power, and $n$ be a positive integer coprime to $q$. In this paper we determine explicitly the representatives and the sizes of all $q$-cyclotomic cosets modulo $n$ in the general settings. We introduce the definition of $2$-adic cyclotomic system, which is a profinite space consists of certain compatible sequences of cyclotomic cosets. A precise characterization of the structure of the $2$-adic cyclotomic system is given, which reveals the general formula for representatives of cyclotomic cosets. With the representatives and the sizes of $q$-cyclotomic cosets modulo $n$, we improve the formulas for the factorizations of $X^{n}-1$ and of $\Phi_{n}(X)$ over $\mathbb{F}_{q}$ given in \cite{Graner}. As a consequence, we classify the cyclic codes over finite fields via giving their generator polynomials. Moreover, the self-dual cyclic codes are determined and enumerated.