A proof of the conjecture of Cohen and Mullen on sums of primitive roots

Cohen, Stephen D; Oliveira E Silva, Tomás; Trudgian, Tim

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A proof of the conjecture of Cohen and Mullen on sums of primitive roots

Date

2014-04-14

Authors

Cohen, Stephen D

Oliveira E Silva, Tomás

Trudgian, Tim

Abstract

We prove that for all q > 61, every non-zero element in the finite field Fq can be written as a linear combination of two primitive roots of Fq. This resolves a conjecture posed by Cohen and Mullen.