Results on Linearized Trinomials having a Certain Rank

Linearized polynomials over finite fields have been much studied over the last several decades. Recently there has been a renewed interest in linearized polynomials because of new connections to coding theory and finite geometry. We consider the problem of calculating the rank or nullity of a linearized polynomial $L(x)=\sum_{i=0}^{d}a_i x^{q^i}$ (where $a_i\in \mathbb{F}_{q^n}$) from the coefficients $a_i$. The rank and nullity of $L(x)$ are the rank and nullity of the associated $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear map $\mathbb{F}_{q^n} \longrightarrow \mathbb{F}_{q^n}$. McGuire and Sheekey defined a $d\times d$ matrix $A_L$ with the property that $$\mbox{nullity} (L)=\mbox{nullity} (A_L -I).$$ We present some consequences of this result for some trinomials that split completely, i.e., trinomials $L(x)=x^{q^d}-bx^q-ax$ that have nullity $d$. We give a full characterization of these trinomials for $n\le d^2-d+1$.