Merit factors of the Legendre sequences
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Numbers
$p$ 
$F_p$
3:
9/2
5:
5/4
7:
7/2
11:
11/6
13:
169/124
17:
289/208
19:
361/234
23:
23/10
29:
841/588
31:
961/526
37:
1369/948
41:
1681/1160
43:
1849/1250
47:
2209/1158
53:
2809/1924
59:
3481/2234
61:
3721/2540
67:
4489/3034
71:
5041/2758
73:
5329/3624
79:
6241/3878
83:
6889/4530
89:
7921/5368
97:
9409/6368
101:
10201/6900
103:
10609/6814
107:
11449/7594
109:
11881/8028
113:
12769/8624
127:
16129/10518
131:
17161/11210
137:
18769/12648
139:
19321/12874
149:
22201/14948
151:
22801/14678
157:
24649/16588
163:
26569/17850
167:
27889/17174
173:
29929/20124
179:
32041/21178
181:
32761/22020
191:
36481/22326
193:
37249/25024
197:
38809/26068
199:
39601/25518
211:
44521/29746
223:
49729/32702
227:
51529/34218
229:
52441/35188
233:
54289/36424
239:
57121/35438
241:
58081/38960
251:
63001/41578
257:
66049/44288
263:
69169/44190
269:
72361/48508
271:
73441/47646
277:
76729/51428
281:
78961/52920
283:
80089/53530
293:
85849/57524
307:
94249/62994
311:
96721/60230
313:
97969/65624
317:
100489/67308
331:
109561/73226
337:
113569/76048
347:
120409/80258
349:
121801/81548
353:
124609/83424
359:
128881/81718
367:
134689/89078
373:
139129/93124
379:
143641/95994
383:
146689/94502
389:
151321/101268
397:
157609/105468
401:
160801/107600
409:
167281/111928
419:
175561/116378
421:
177241/118580
431:
185761/118726
433:
187489/125424
439:
192721/126038
443:
196249/130914
449:
201601/134848
457:
208849/139688
461:
212521/142140
463:
214369/142702
467:
218089/145186
479:
229441/145638
487:
237169/157926
491:
241081/160130
499:
249001/166354
503:
253009/163630
509:
259081/173228
521:
271441/181480
523:
273529/182514
541:
292681/195660
547:
299209/199874
557:
310249/207388
563:
316969/210794
569:
323761/216408
571:
326041/217570
577:
332929/222528
587:
344569/229626
593:
351649/235024
599:
358801/231998
601:
361201/241400
607:
368449/244054
613:
375769/251124
617:
380689/254408
619:
383161/255698
631:
398161/263886
641:
410881/274560
643:
413449/276130
647:
418609/273094
653:
426409/284924
659:
434281/288594
661:
436921/291940
673:
452929/302624
677:
458329/306228
683:
466489/311314
691:
477481/318650
701:
491401/328300
709:
502681/335828
719:
516961/333454
727:
528529/350894
733:
537289/358924
739:
546121/364458
743:
552049/363230
751:
564001/373870
757:
573049/382788
761:
579121/386840
769:
591361/395008
773:
597529/399124
787:
619369/413338
797:
635209/424268
809:
654481/437128
811:
657721/438618
821:
674041/450180
823:
677329/451294
827:
683929/456106
829:
687241/458988
839:
703921/456654
853:
727609/485924
857:
734449/490488
859:
737881/492106
863:
744769/491830
877:
769129/513628
881:
776161/518320
883:
779689/520530
887:
786769/514958
907:
822649/549194
911:
829921/542286
919:
844561/559398
929:
863041/576288
937:
877969/586248
941:
885481/591260
947:
896809/598458
953:
908209/606424
967:
935089/622774
971:
942841/626650
977:
954529/637328
983:
966289/636102
991:
982081/652038
997:
994009/663668
Definition
For an odd prime $p$, the Legendre sequence $u^{(p)}=(u_0,\ldots,u_{p-1})$ is defined by $u_0=1$ and $u_j=\left(\frac{j}{p}\right)$ for $1\leq j<p$, where $\left(\frac{\cdot}{p}\right)$ is the Legendre symbol [3]. This table holds its aperiodic merit factor $F_p$.
Parameters
$p$
—   prime length ($p$ is an odd prime)
Formulas
(1)
$F_p=p^2/(2\sum_{k=1}^{p-1}c_k^2)$, where $c_k=\sum_{j=0}^{p-1-k}u_ju_{j+k}$ for $1\leq k<p$.
(2)
If $U_p(x)=\sum_{j=0}^{p-1}u_jx^j$ and $\|U_p\|_4^4$ denotes the integral of $|U_p(z)|^4$ over $|z|=1$ with normalized Haar measure, then $F_p=p^2/(\|U_p\|_4^4-p^2)$, since $\|U_p\|_4^4=c_0^2+2\sum_{k=1}^{p-1}c_k^2$ with $c_0=\sum_{j=0}^{p-1}u_j^2=p$.
(3)
For the unrotated Legendre sequence, $F_p\to 3/2$ as $p\to\infty$ [2].
Comments
(4)
The sequence is not cyclically rotated, and the merit factor is the aperiodic one. The periodic merit factor is a different quantity.
(5)
The merit factor convention and the Legendre sequence family are those studied by Golay [1] and by Hoholdt and Jensen [2].
(6)
The polynomial $U_p$ from (2) satisfies $U_p(x)=1+f_p(x)$, where $f_p$ is the Fekete polynomial with the same prime parameter.
Programs
(P1)
Sage
import numberdb.sage as numberdb
from sage.arith.misc import kronecker_symbol
from sage.rings.integer_ring import ZZ
from sage.rings.rational_field import QQ

def legendre_merit_factor(p):
    u = [ZZ(1)] + [ZZ(kronecker_symbol(j, p)) for j in range(1, p)]
    denominator = ZZ(0)
    for k in range(1, p):
        c = sum(u[j] * u[j + k] for j in range(p - k))
        denominator += c * c
    return QQ(p * p) / QQ(2 * denominator)

legendre_merit_factor(1009)      # the next prime after this table
References
[1]
M. J. E. Golay, The merit factor of Legendre sequences, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory 29 (1983), no. 6, 934-936. (doi)
[2]
T. Hoholdt and H. E. Jensen, Determination of the merit factor of Legendre sequences, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory 34 (1988), no. 1, 161-164. (doi)
Links
Similar tables
Fekete polynomials $f_p$ —   have the same Legendre-symbol coefficients for positive powers, but store the polynomial with zero constant term rather than the merit factor of the length-$p$ sequence with $u_0=1$
Shapiro polynomials $P_n$ —   use the Rudin-Shapiro sign rule for another family of binary sequences with small aperiodic autocorrelations
Complementary Shapiro polynomials $Q_n$ —   form the second polynomial sequence in the same Rudin-Shapiro pair, another family of binary sequences with small aperiodic autocorrelations
Data properties
Entries are of type: rational number
Table is complete: no (it holds every odd prime $p<1000$, a small-prime range that keeps the exact $O(p^2)$ autocorrelation computation tractable to rerun)
How they were obtained:

The generator computes the Legendre sequence from exact Legendre symbols and forms the aperiodic autocorrelations by integer arithmetic. The values are exact rational numbers.

more

The run checked every value against the same sequence built by Euler's criterion rather than Sage's Legendre symbol, against the known small values for $p=3,5,7,11,13$, and against the $L^4$-norm formula computed from all ordered coefficient pairs.