Solution to an isotopism question concerning rank 2 semifields

Abstract

In [U. Dempwolff: More Translation Planes and Semifields from Dembowski-Ostrom Polynomials, Designs, Codes, Cryptogr. \textbf{68} (1-3) (2013), 81-103], the author gives a construction of three classes of rank two semifields of order $q^{2n}$, with $q$ and $n$ odd, using Dembowski-Ostrom polynomials. The question whether these semifields are new, i.e. not isotopic to previous constructions, is left as an open problem. In this paper we solve this problem for $n>3$, in particular we prove that two of these classes, labeled $D_A$ and $D_{AB}$, are new for $n>3$, whereas presemifields in family $D_B$ are isotopic to Generalized Twisted Fields for each $n\ge 3$.