In algebraic number theory, a Gauss sum or Gaussian sum is a particular kind of finite sum of roots of unity, typically where the sum is over elements of some finite commutative ring , is a group homomorphism of the additive group into the unit circle, and is a group homomorphism of the unit group into the unit circle, extended to non-unit , where it takes the value 0. Gauss sums are the analogues for finite fields of the Gamma function. Such sums are ubiquitous in number theory. They occur, for example, in the functional equations of Dirichlet -functions, where for a Dirichlet character the equation relating and ) (where is the complex conjugate of ) involves a factor History The case originally considered by Carl Friedrich Gauss was the quadratic Gauss sum, for the field of residues modulo a prime number , and the Legendre symbol. In this case Gauss proved that or for congruent to 1 or 3 modulo 4 respectively (the quadratic Gauss sum can also be evaluated by Fourier analysis as well as by contour integration). An alternate form for this Gauss sum is: Quadratic Gauss sums are closely connected with the theory of theta functions. The general theory of Gauss sums was developed in the early 19th century, with the use of Jacobi sums and their prime decomposition in cyclotomic fields. Gauss sums over a residue ring of integers are linear combinations of closely related sums called Gaussian periods. The absolute value of Gauss sums is usually found as an application of Plancherel's theorem on finite groups. In the case where is a field of elements and is nontrivial, the absolute value is . The determination of the exact value of general Gauss sums, following the result of Gauss on the quadratic case, is a long-standing issue. For some cases see Kummer sum. Properties of Gauss sums of Dirichlet characters The Gauss sum of a Dirichlet character modulo is If is also primitive, then in particular, it is nonzero. More generally, if is the conductor of and is the primitive Dirichlet character modulo that induces , then the Gauss sum of is related to that of by where is the Möbius function. Consequently, is non-zero precisely when is squarefree and relatively prime to . Other relations between and Gauss sums of other characters include where is the complex conjugate Dirichlet character, and if is a