Tangent-Chebyshev rational maps and Redei functions

Abstract: Recently Lima and Campello de Souza introduced a new class of rational functions over odd-order finite fields, and explained their potential usefulness in cryptography. We show that these new functions are conjugate to the classical family of Redei rational functions, so that the properties of the new functions follow from properties of Redei functions. We also prove new properties of these functions, and introduce analogous functions in characteristic 2, while also introducing a new version of trigonometry over finite fields of even order, which is of independent interest.