On the $k$-error linear complexity of binary sequences derived from polynomial quotients

Abstract: We investigate the $k$-error linear complexity of $p^2$-periodic binary sequences defined from the polynomial quotients (including the well-studied Fermat quotients), which is defined by $$ q_{p,w}(u)\equiv \frac{u^w-u^{wp}}{p} \bmod p ~ \mathrm{with} 0 \le q_{p,w}(u) \le p-1, ~u\ge 0, $$ where $p$ is an odd prime and $1\le w<p$. Indeed, first for all integers $k$, we determine exact values of the $k$-error linear complexity over the finite field $\F_2$ for these binary sequences under the assumption of f2 being a primitive root modulo $p^2$, and then we determine their $k$-error linear complexity over the finite field $\F_p$ for either $0\le k<p$ when $w=1$ or $0\le k<p-1$ when $2\le w<p$. Theoretical results obtained indicate that such sequences possess `good' error linear complexity.