Bounds on the differential uniformity of the Wan-Lidl polynomials

Abstract

We study the differential uniformity of the Wan-Lidl polynomials over finite fields. A general upper bound, independent of the order of the field, is established. Additional bounds are established in settings where one of the parameters is restricted. In particular, we establish a class of permutation polynomials which have differential uniformity at most 5 over fields of order $3\mathrm{mod}4$, irrespective of the field size. Computational results are also given.