An intrinsical description of group codes

A (left) group code of length n is a linear code which is the image of a (left) ideal of a group algebra via an isomorphism which maps G to the standard basis of . Many classical linear codes have been shown to be group codes. In this paper we obtain a criterion to decide when a linear code is a group code in terms of its intrinsical properties in the ambient space , which does not assume an “a priori” group algebra structure on . As an application we provide a family of groups (including metacyclic groups) for which every two-sided group code is an abelian group code. It is well known that Reed–Solomon codes are cyclic and its parity check extensions are elementary abelian group codes. These two classes of codes are included in the class of Cauchy codes. Using our criterion we classify the Cauchy codes of some lengths which are left group codes and the possible group code structures on these codes. Research supported by D.G.I. of Spain and Fundación Séneca of Murcia.     

The nonexistence of near-extremal formally self-dual codes

A code is called formally self-dual if and have the same weight enumerators. There are four types of nontrivial divisible formally self-dual codes over , and . These codes are called extremal if their minimum distances achieve the Mallows-Sloane bound. S. Zhang gave possible lengths for which extremal self-dual codes do not exist. In this paper, we define near-extremal formally self-dual (f.s.d.) codes. With Zhang’s systematic approach, we determine possible lengths for which the four types of near-extremal formally self-dual codes as well as the two types of near-extremal formally self-dual additive codes cannot exist. In particular, our result on the nonexistence of near-extremal binary f.s.d. even codes of any even length n completes all the cases since only the case 8|n was dealt with by Han and Lee.      

Maximal partial packings of $${Z_2^n}$$ with perfect codes

A maximal partial Hamming packing of is a family of mutually disjoint translates of Hamming codes of length n, such that any translate of any Hamming code of length n intersects at least one of the translates of Hamming codes in . The number of translates of Hamming codes in is the packing number, and a partial Hamming packing is strictly partial if the family does not constitute a partition of . A simple and useful condition describing when two translates of Hamming codes are disjoint or not disjoint is proved. This condition depends on the dual codes of the corresponding Hamming codes. Partly, by using this condition, it is shown that the packing number p, for any maximal strictly partial Hamming packing of , n = 2 ^m −1, satisfies . It is also proved that for any n equal to 2 ^m −1, , there exist maximal strictly partial Hamming packings of with packing numbers n−10,n−9,n−8,...,n−1. This implies that the upper bound is tight for any n = 2 ^m −1, . All packing numbers for maximal strictly partial Hamming packings of , n = 7 and 15, are found by a computer search. In the case n = 7 the packing number is 5, and in the case n = 15 the possible packing numbers are 5,6,7,...,13 and 14.      

The number of self-dual codes over $${Z_{p^3}}$$

Let p be a prime number. In this paper, we consider codes over the ring of integers modulo p ³ and give a characterization of self-duality. This leads to a construction of self-dual codes and a mass formula, which counts the number of such codes over .      

On self-dual codes over {\mathbb{F}}_5

The purpose of this paper is to improve the upper bounds of the minimum distances of self-dual codes over for lengths [22, 26, 28, 32–40]. In particular, we prove that there is no [22, 11, 9] self-dual code over , whose existence was left open in 1982. We also show that both the Hamming weight enumerator and the Lee weight enumerator of a putative [24, 12, 10] self-dual code over are unique. Using the building-up construction, we show that there are exactly nine inequivalent optimal self-dual [18, 9, 7] codes over up to the monomial equivalence, and construct one new optimal self-dual [20, 10, 8] code over and at least 40 new inequivalent optimal self-dual [22, 11, 8] codes.      

Kernels and <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Kernels of <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis></Superscript>-ary 1-Perfect Codes

The rank of a q-ary code C is the dimension of the subspace spanned by C. The kernel of a q-ary code C of length n can be defined as the set of all translations leaving C invariant. Some relations between the rank and the dimension of the kernel of q-ary 1-perfect codes, over as well as over the prime field , are established. Q-ary 1-perfect codes of length n=(q^m − 1)/(q − 1) with different kernel dimensions using switching constructions are constructed and some upper and lower bounds for the dimension of the kernel, once the rank is given, are established.Communicated by: I.F. Blake     

Ring geometries,two-weight codes,and strongly regular graphs

It is known that a projective linear two-weight code C over a finite field corresponds both to a set of points in a projective space over that meets every hyperplane in either a or b points for some integers a < b, and to a strongly regular graph whose vertices may be identified with the codewords of C. Here we extend this classical result to the case of a ring-linear code with exactly two nonzero homogeneous weights and sets of points in an associated projective ring geometry. We will introduce regular projective two-weight codes over finite Frobenius rings, we will show that such a code gives rise to a strongly regular graph, and we will give some constructions of two-weight codes using ring geometries. All these examples yield infinite families of strongly regular graphs with non-trivial parameters.      

Spectral-Null Codes and Null Spaces of Hadamard Submatrices

Codes of length 2 ^m over {1, -1} are defined as null spaces of certain submatrices of Hadamard matrices. It is shown that the codewords of all have an rth order spectral null at zero frequency. Establishing the connection between and the parity-check matrix of Reed-Muller codes, the minimum distance of is obtained along with upper bounds on the redundancy of . An efficient algorithm is presented for encoding unconstrained binary sequences into .     

Paley type partial difference sets in non <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-groups

By modifying a construction for Hadamard (Menon) difference sets we construct two infinite families of negative Latin square type partial difference sets in groups of the form where p is any odd prime. One of these families has the well-known Paley parameters, which had previously only been constructed in p-groups. This provides new constructions of Hadamard matrices and implies the existence of many new strongly regular graphs including some that are conference graphs. As a corollary, we are able to construct Paley–Hadamard difference sets of the Stanton-Sprott family in groups of the form when is a prime power. These are new parameters for such difference sets.      

Some constructions of systematic authentication codes using galois rings

For q = p ^m and m ≥ 1, we construct systematic authentication codes over finite field using Galois rings. We give corrections of the construction of [2]. We generalize corresponding systematic authentication codes of [6] in various ways.     

Maximum distance separable poset codes

We derive the Singleton bound for poset codes and define the MDS poset codes as linear codes which attain the Singleton bound. In this paper, we study the basic properties of MDS poset codes. First, we introduce the concept of I-perfect codes and describe the MDS poset codes in terms of I-perfect codes. Next, we study the weight distribution of an MDS poset code and show that the weight distribution of an MDS poset code is completely determined. Finally, we prove the duality theorem which states that a linear code C is an MDS -code if and only if is an MDS -code, where is the dual code of C and is the dual poset of      

Symmetric <Emphasis Type="Bold">(4,4)</Emphasis>-Nets and Generalized Hadamard Matrices Over Groups of Order 4

The symmetric class-regular (4,4)-nets having a group of bitranslations G of order four are enumerated up to isomorphism. There are 226 nets with , and 13 nets with . Using a (4,4)-net with full automorphism group of smallest order, the lower bound on the number of pairwise non-isomorphic affine 2-(64,16,5) designs is improved to 21,621,600. The classification of class-regular (4,4)-nets implies the classification of all generalized Hadamard matrices (or difference matrices) of order 16 over a group of order four up to monomial equivalence. The binary linear codes spanned by the incidence matrices of the nets, as well as the quaternary and -codes spanned by the generalized Hadamard matrices are computed and classified. The binary codes include the affine geometry [64,16,16] code spanned by the planes in AG(3,4) and two other inequivalent codes with the same weight distribution.These codes support non-isomorphic affine 2-(64,16,5) designs that have the same 2-rank as the classical affine design in AG(3,4), hence provide counter-examples to Hamadas conjecture. Many of the -codes spanned by generalized Hadamard matrices are self-orthogonal with respect to the Hermitian inner product and yield quantum error-correcting codes, including some codes with optimal parameters.Vladimir D. Tonchev-Research of this author sponsored by the National Security Agency under Grant MDA904-03-1-0088.classification 5B, 51E, 94B     

Parameterized partition relations on the real numbers

We consider several kinds of partition relations on the set of real numbers and its powers, as well as their parameterizations with the set of all infinite sets of natural numbers, and show that they hold in some models of set theory. The proofs use generic absoluteness, that is, absoluteness under the required forcing extensions. We show that Solovay models are absolute under those forcing extensions, which yields, for instance, that in these models for every well ordered partition of there is a sequence of perfect sets whose product lies in one piece of the partition. Moreover, for every finite partition of there is and a sequence of perfect sets such that the product lies in one piece of the partition, where is the set of all infinite subsets of X. The proofs yield the same results for Borel partitions in ZFC, and for more complex partitions in any model satisfying a certain degree of generic absoluteness. This work was supported by the research projects MTM 2005-01025 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education and 2005SGR-00738 of the Generalitat de Catalunya. A substantial part of the work was carried out while the second-named author was ICREA Visiting Professor at the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica in Bellaterra (Barcelona), and also during the first-named author’s stays at the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas and the California Institute of Technology. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by these institutions.     

A Class of Perfect Ternary Constant-Weight Codes

We construct a class of perfect ternary constant-weight codes of length 2 ^r , weight 2 ^r -1 and minimum distance 3. The codes have codewords. The construction is based on combining cosets of binary Hamming codes. As a special case, for r=2 the construction gives the subcode of the tetracode consisting of its nonzero codewords. By shortening the perfect codes, we get further optimal codes.     

Extremal Self-Dual Codes over \mathbb{F} 2 × \mathbb{F} 2

In this paper, it is shown that extremal (Hermitian) self-dual codes over ₂ × ₂ exist only for lengths 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10. All extremal self-dual codes over ₂ × ₂ are found. In particular, it is shown that there is a unique extremal self-dual code up to equivalence for lengths 8 and 10. Optimal self-dual codes are also investigated. A classification is given for binary [12, 7, 4] codes with dual distance 4, binary [13, 7, 4] codes with dual distance 4 and binary [13, 8, 4] codes with dual distance 4.     

On circulant self-dual codes over small fields

We construct self-dual codes over small fields with q = 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 of moderate length with long cycles in the automorphism group. With few exceptions, the codes achieve or improve the known lower bounds on the minimum distance of self-dual codes.      

Codes defined by forms of degree 2 on non-degenerate Hermitian varieties in $${\mathbb{P}^{4}(\mathbb{F}_q)}$$

We study the functional codes of second order on a non-degenerate Hermitian variety as defined by G. Lachaud. We provide the best possible bounds for the number of points of quadratic sections of . We list the first five weights, describe the corresponding codewords and compute their number. The paper ends with two conjectures. The first is about minimum distance of the functional codes of order h on a non-singular Hermitian variety . The second is about distribution of the codewords of first five weights of the functional codes of second order on a non-singular Hermitian variety .      

The Classification of Some Perfect Codes

Perfect 1-error correcting codes C in Z ₂ ⁿ , where n=2 ^m–1, are considered. Let ; denote the linear span of the words of C and let the rank of C be the dimension of the vector space . It is shown that if the rank of C is n–m+2 then C is equivalent to a code given by a construction of Phelps. These codes are, in case of rank n–m+2, described by a Hamming code H and a set of MDS-codes D _h , h H, over an alphabet with four symbols. The case of rank n–m+1 is much simpler: Any such code is a Vasil'ev code.     

Codes that attain minimum distance in every possible direction

The following problem motivated by investigation of databases is studied. Let be a q-ary code of length n with the properties that has minimum distance at least n − k + 1, and for any set of k − 1 coordinates there exist two codewords that agree exactly there. Let f(q, k)be the maximum n for which such a code exists. f(q, k)is bounded by linear functions of k and q, and the exact values for special k and qare determined.