Factorization of Additive Polynomials and van der Geer--van der Vlugt curves in characteristic 2

Abstract

In our previous work, we gave a formula for the Frobenius eigenvalues of van der Geer--van der Vlugt curves in characteristic 2 by considering suitable quotients of the curve. Although the formula is explicit, it depends on many choices, which makes the formula complicated. In this article, we take a different approach using a factorization of additive polynomials, and prove a new formula. The resulting formula is simpler and is useful for explicit computations. As applications, we provide a method for constructing maximal and minimal van der Geer--van der Vlugt curves, and show that every such curve arises from this construction. We also compute various examples of van der Geer--van der Vlugt curves and study their periods.