Paper 2010/037

Estimating the Size of the Image of Deterministic Hash Functions to Elliptic Curves

Pierre-Alain Fouque and Mehdi Tibouchi

Abstract

Let E be a non-supersingular elliptic curve over a finite field F_q. At CRYPTO 2009, Icart introduced a deterministic function F_q->E(F_q) which can be computed efficiently, and allowed him and Coron to define well-behaved hash functions with values in E(F_q). Some properties of this function rely on a conjecture which was left as an open problem in Icart's paper. We prove this conjecture as well as analogues for other hash functions. See also Farahashi, Shparlinski and Voloch, _On Hashing into Elliptic Curves_, for independent results of a similar form.

Note: Fixed an error in Prop. 4