Evaluation of Gaussian hypergeometric series using Huff's models of elliptic curves

TL;DR

This paper expresses the number of rational points on Huff elliptic curves over finite fields using Gaussian hypergeometric series, generalizing known formulas and deriving new transformations and exact values for these series.

Contribution

It provides a new expression for rational points on Huff elliptic curves in terms of hypergeometric series, extending previous results to more general elliptic curves.

Findings

Number of points on Huff curves expressed via hypergeometric series

Generalization of formulas for Legendre, Clausen, and Edwards curves

Derived transformations and exact values of hypergeometric series over finite fields

Abstract

A Huff curve over a field $K$ is an elliptic curve defined by the equation $ax(y^2-1)=by(x^2-1)$ where $a,b\in K$ are such that $a^2\ne b^2$. In a similar fashion, a general Huff curve over $K$ is described by the equation $x(ay^2-1)=y(bx^2-1)$ where $a,b\in K$ are such that $ab(a-b)\ne 0$. In this note we express the number of rational points on these curves over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ of odd characteristic in terms of Gaussian hypergeometric series $\displaystyle {_2F_1}(\lambda):={_2F_1}\left(\begin{matrix} \phi&\phi & \epsilon \end{matrix}\Big| \lambda \right)$ where $\phi$ and $\epsilon$ are the quadratic and trivial characters over $\mathbb{F}_q$, respectively. Consequently, we exhibit the number of rational points on the elliptic curves $y^2=x(x+a)(x+b)$ over $\mathbb{F}_q$ in terms of ${_2F_1}(\lambda)$. This generalizes earlier known formulas for Legendre, Clausen and Edwards curves. Furthermore, using these expressions we display several transformations of ${_2F_1}$. Finally, we present the exact value of $_2F_1(\lambda)$ for different $\lambda$'s over a prime field $\mathbb{F}_p$ extending previous results of Greene and Ono.