Hasse invariants and mod $p$ solutions of $A$-hypergeometric systems
  Igusa noted that the Hasse invariant of the Legendre family of elliptic curves over a finite field of odd characteristic is a solution mod $p$ of a Gaussian hypergeometric equation. We show that any family of exponential sums over a finite field has a Hasse invariant which is a sum of products of mod $p$ solutions of $A$-hypergeometric systems. 
Alan Adolphson and Steven Sperber
math.NT