Estimate of a sum of Legendre symbols of polynomials of even degree

Abstract

Let n≥4 be even, p > (n²−2n)/2 be simple odd, andf(x)=a ₀+a ₁+...+a _nxⁿ be a polynomial with integral coefficients that are not quadratic over the residue field modulo p, (a _n, p)=1. The following inequality is proved:

$$\left| {\sum\nolimits_{x = 1}^p {\left( {\frac{{f(x)}}{p}} \right)} } \right| \leqslant (n - 2)\sqrt {p + 1 - \frac{{n(n - 4)}}{4}} + 1.$$