Non-isomorphic maximal function fields of genus $q-1$

Abstract

The classification of maximal function fields over a finite field is a difficult open problem, and even determining isomorphism classes among known function fields is challenging in general. We study a particular family of maximal function fields defined over a finite field with $q^2$ elements, where $q$ is the power of an odd prime. When $d:=(q+1)/2$ is a prime, this family is known to contain a large number of non-isomorphic function fields of the same genus and with the same automorphism group. We compute the automorphism group and isomorphism classes also in the case where $d$ is not a prime.