Chapter 5

Finite Field

Spring 2009

Ammar Abu-Hudrouss Islamic

University Gaza ١

Properties of Finite fields

Finite Field or Galois Field has q different possible values and has
the following properties

 There are two defined operations, namely addition and

multiplication.

 The result of adding or multiplying two elements from the field

is always an element in the field.

 One element of the field is the element zero, such that a + 0 = a

for any element a in the field.

 One element of the field is unity, such that a • 1 = a for any

element a in the field.
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 Properties of Finite fields

Finite Field or Galois Field has q different possible values and has
the following properties
 For every element a in the field, there is an additive inverse
element -a, such that a + ( - a) = 0.

 For every non-zero element b in the field there is b

multiplicative inverse elementb -l , such that bb -1 = 1.

 The associative a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c, a • (b • c) = (a • b) • c,
commutative a + b = b + a, a • b = b • a, and distributive a • (b +
c) = a • b + a • c laws apply.

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Prime Finite fields

 These properties can be satisfied if the field size is any prime

number or any integer power of a prime.

 The rules for a finite field with a prime number (p ) of elements

{0 ,1 ,2 ,…,p - 1 } can be satisfied by carrying out the arithmetic
modulo-p.

 Example : Finite Field GF(3)

+ 0 1 2
0 0 1 2
1 1 2 0
2 2 0 1

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 Prime Finite fields

 Example : finite field GF(3)

X 0 1 2
0 0 0 0
1 0 1 2
2 0 2 1

 The additive inverse of 0 is 0 and of 1 is 2.

 The multiplicative inverse of 1 is 1 and the multiplicative inverse

of 2 is 2.

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Prime Finite fields

 In any prime size field, it can be proved that there is always at

least one element whose powers constitute all the nonzero
elements of the field. This element is said to be primitive.

 For example, in the field GF(7), the number 3 is primitive as

 30 = 1
 31 = 3
 32 = 2
 33 = 6
 34 = 4
 35 = 5

Higher powers of 3 just repeat the pattern as 36 = 1

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 Prime Finite fields

 multiplication can be done by adding powers of the primitive

 In GF(7)
6 x 2 = 33 x 32 = 35 = 5.

 Hence we can find the multiplicative inverse of any element as 3i

as 3-i = 36-i.

 the multiplicative inverse of 6 (33) is 6 (33),

 the multiplicative inverse of 4 (34) is 2 (32)
 and the multiplicative inverse of 5 (35) is 3 (31).

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Extension of Prime Field

 We will consider extension of binary field ( p = 2)

 The extended fields will inherit the module-2 addition (i.e the
addition and subtraction are the same)

 For any field where q = 2m, there is a primitive  where

m
2 1
1
 or
m
2 1
1  0
 One of the factor of this polynomial should equal zero and it
should not be in the form of n + 1 (n < 2m -1)

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 Extension of Prime Field
 Take as an example the field GF(23). The factors of 7 + 1 are

 7  1    1 3    1 3   2  1
 Both the polynomials of degree 3 are primitive and so we choose,
arbitrarily,
 3   1  0
 This yields that the nonzero element of field is
2 2
 0  1 1     
 3   1  4   3   2  
 4   4   3   2   2    1
 6   5   3   2     2  1
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Extension of Prime Field

 The nonzero powers of a can be multiplied by adding the powers
of a modulo-7.

 To add two elements together, we must first express each

element as a binary polynomial in powers of a of degree 2 or
less.

 Addition is then by modulo-2 addition of the terms of the

polynomial, for example:

 3   4   1  2     2 1
 Each element is its additive inverse (inherited from binary)

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 Extension of Prime Field
 The field elements can be assigned to any numeric value.
Addition and multiplication can be done as shown in the graph

Map to
Value 1
power of 
Map to
Arithmetic
Result numeric
operation
value
Map to
Value 2
power of 

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Polynomial representation of FF elements

 To simplify the addition we can use the following representation
for the finite field elements in GF(8)

Element Coefficients value

2 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 1
1 0 1 0 2
2 1 0 0 4
3 0 1 1 3
4 1 1 0 6
5 1 1 1 7
6 1 0 1 5

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 Polynomial representation of FF elements
 The addition of two numbers can be done by the modulo-2
addition of bits.

 If wish to add 3 to 6, the binary values 011 and 110 would be

added using exclusive OR to produce 101 (i,.e. 5). This confines
with
 3  6   5
 The multiplication is done by the previous methods adding the
power of alpha modulus 7.

4  3   2  3   5  7
6  3   4  3   7   0  1
2  7   1  5   6  5

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Roots of Polynomial
 Polynomial with real coefficients can be always factorized if we
using complex numbers

X 2  6 X  10   X  3  j  X  3  j 

 The same analogy can be used for finite field irreducible

polynomial can be factorized in some extended field.

 For example X3 + X + 1 is irreducible in the binary field

 But in GF(8)


X 3  X 1  X   X  2 X   4  

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 Roots of Polynomial
 It can be easily verified for any binary polynomial f(X)

 f  X 2  f X 2 
 Which mean if  is a root of the polynomial then 2, 4, 8 ,… are
also roots for the same polynomial.

 The same applies to factorization over larger finite fields. If

f(x) is irreducible q-arry polynomial then it will have roots in
some extention GF(qm). The relation become

 f  X q  f X q 
 Which mean if  is a root of the polynomial then q, q2, q3 ,…
are also roots for the same polynomial.

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Minimum polynomial
 If an irreducible polynomial (X) has  as a root, it is called the
minimum polynomial of  (or of any of its other conjugate roots).

 If  is primitive element then (X) is primitive polynomial.

 Consider GF(8) which is generated by primitive polynomial

X3+X+1

 The roots of this primitive polynomial is ,2, and 4

 Then X3 + X + 1 is minimal polynomial of ,2, and 4

 Then X3 + X2 + 1 is minimal polynomial of 3,6, and 12

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 Order of an Element
 If m is the smallest integer value for which m= 1, then

 the element  is said to be of order m and it must be a root of

Xm + 1.

 If it is also a root of some irreducible polynomial f(X), then f(X)

is a factor of Xm + 1.

 Example: if we take  = 3 ,in GF(8) example, the lowest value of

m for m = 1 is 7.

 This means that 3 is of order 7 and it is a root of X7 + 1.

 As 3 is a root of X3 + X2 + 1, then X3 + X2 + 1 is a factor of X7+
1.

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Finite Field Elements as Roots of Polynomial

 The roots ofXq + 1 where q = 2m-1, are the nonzero element of
GF(2m)

 Example: in GF(8)

 
X 7  1   X  1 X 3  X  1 X 3  X 2  1 
  is a root of X3 + X + 1, hence 2 and 4 are also roots
 3 is a root of X3 + X2 + 1 , hence 6 and 5 are also roots
 The root of X + 1 is 1.

 Then all the elements of the fields are roots of X7 + 1.

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 Finite Field Elements as Roots of Polynomial
 The roots ofXq+ 1 where q = 2m-1, are the nonzero element of
GF(2m)

 
X 7  1   X  1 X 3  X  1 X 3  X 2  1 

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Roots of an Irreducible polynomial

 If we consider irreducible polynomial of degree c, it will have c
c-1 .
roots , 2, 4, ….,2

 But 2c=  hence 2c-1 =1.

 Thus  is a root of X2c-1 + 1.

 As the roots of X2c-1 + 1 are the nonzero elements of GF(2c), any

irreducible polynomial of degree c always has roots in GF(2c)

 Conversely, the factors of X2c-1 + 1 include all the irreducible

polynomials of degree c.

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 Roots of an Irreducible polynomial
 Example X3 + X + 1 and X3 + X2 + 1 are the only irreducible
polynomial of degree 3 as they are factors of X7 + 1

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Factorization of Polynomial
 To find the field in which polynomial has its factors, we find the
factors to begin with. The LCM c’ of the orders; the factor of
the polynomial can be found in GF(2c’).

 Proof

 
2ab  1  2a  1
b

2ab a
2 
 1  2  1 a b 1
 
|  2a
b 2
 
 2a
b 3


 So 2a-1 is a factor of 2ab -1, and so 2c’ is a multiple of 2c – 1 if c’
is multiple of c.

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 Factorization of Polynomial
 If c’ is multiple of the orders if akk the binary factors then all
the roots can be represented in GF(2c’).

 An example , the polynomial X 5 + X 4 + 1 factories into

 (X3 + X + 1) and (X2 + X + 1) . It therefore has factors in GF(26).

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Discrete Fourier Transform

 The definition of the DFT of an w-point sequence in the field of

complex numbers is usually expressed in terms of the relation
between the frequency domain samples Vk and the time domain
samples vi:
n 1
Vk   vi e  j 2ik / n
i 0

 In the finite field GF(2m) there will be a transform of v(X) into

V(z), equivalent to the Fourier transform, only if there is an nth
root of 1 within the field, i.e. a term 
 such that n= 1. This will be satisfied if

2m 1
c
n
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 Discrete Fourier Transform over FF

 There will be two particular cases of interest to us. One will be

the case where a binary vector of length 2m - 1 is transformed
over GF(2m); c = 1 and
n 1
Vk   vi   ik
i 0

 The easiest way to visualize the Fourier transform from the

definition above is as follows. Regard the sequence to be
transformed as a polynomial f(X).

 Now to calculate the transform coefficient in position k,

substitute X = k.

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Discrete Fourier Transform

 Example
 The sequence 0101100 is equivalent to X5 + X3 + X2. The Fourier
transform over GF(8) is

V0  1  1  1  1
V1   5   3   2  0
V2   3   6   4  0
V3   1   2   6   3
V4   6   5   1  0
V5   4   1   3   5
V6   2   4   5   6

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 Discrete Fourier Transform

 The inverse is given by

n 1
vi  Vk ik
k 0

 The inverse Fourier transform can be presented in a similar way.

Regard the sequence as a polynomial V(z) and substitute z = i to
obtain the value of the inverse transform in position i.

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Discrete Fourier Transform

 Example
 The sequence 0101100 is equivalent to z5 + z3 + z2. The inverse
Fourier transform over GF(8) is

V0  1  1  1  1
V6   2   4   5   6
V5   4   1   3   5
V4   6   5   1  0
V3   1   2   6   3
V2   3   6   4  0
V1   5   3   2  0

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 Discrete Fourier Transform

 Example
 The sequence 12  20 60 is equivalent to.

X 6   2 X 5  X 4   2 X 3   6 X
 The Fourier transform over GF(8) is
V0  1   2     2   6   4
V1   6   0   5   5  1   6
V2   5   5   2       2
V3   4   3   6   4   2   1
V4   3   1   3   0   3  0
V5   2   6   0   3   4  0
V6   1   4   4   6   5   6
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Discrete Fourier Transform

 Then the Fourier transform of the sequence is 060264

 The inverse Fourier can be found by the same method and it has
the sequence 6 20604

 Note the relationship to the forward transform. The value of

both transforms in position 0 is the same
 However, for the other positions, the inverse transform in
position i makes the same substitution as for the forward
transform in position n - k.
 Therefore the only difference between the forward and inverse
transforms is a reversing of the order of the samples, other
than the one in position zero.

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 Roots and Spectral Components

 A consequence of the definition of the Fourier transform is that

roots of a polynomial in the time domain are related to zero
components in the transform over GF(2m).

 A polynomial v(X) has a root k if and only if the component Vk

of the transform is zero.

 Conversely, the polynomial v(X) has a zero component vi if and

only if a' is a root of the transform polynomial V(z).

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Roots and Spectral Components

 As an example, the binary sequence 0001011 is equivalent to X3

+ X + 1.

 As this is the primitive polynomial used to generate the finite

field GF(8), it is the minimum polynomial of a and therefore has
roots a, a2 and a4.

 Thus we would expect the frequency components V1, V2 and ¥4

to be zero, and this is found to be the case.

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