On the value set of small families of polynomials over a finite field, III

We estimate the average cardinality $\mathcal{V}(\mathcal{A})$ of the value set of a general family $\mathcal{A}$ of monic univariate polynomials of degree $d$ with coefficients in the finite field $\mathbb{F}_{\hskip-0.7mm q}$. We establish conditions on the family $\mathcal{A}$ under which $\mathcal{V}(\mathcal{A})=\mu_d\,q+\mathcal{O}(q^{1/2})$, where $\mu_d:=\sum_{r=1}^d{(-1)^{r-1}}/{r!}$. The result holds without any restriction on the characteristic of $\mathbb{F}_{\hskip-0.7mm q}$ and provides an explicit expression for the constant underlying the $\mathcal{O}$--notation in terms of $d$. We reduce the question to estimating the number of $\mathbb{F}_{\hskip-0.7mm q}$--rational points with pairwise--distinct coordinates of a certain family of complete intersections defined over $\mathbb{F}_{\hskip-0.7mm q}$. For this purpose, we obtain an upper bound on the dimension of the singular locus of the complete intersections under consideration, which allows us to estimate the corresponding number of $\mathbb{F}_{\hskip-0.7mm q}$--rational points.