On symplectic semifield spreads of $$\hbox {PG}(5, q^2)$$PG(5, q2), q even

We prove that the only symplectic semifield spreads of \(\hbox {PG}(5,q^2)\), \(q\ge 2^{14}\) even, whose associated semifield has center containing \({\mathbb F}_q\), is the Desarguesian spread, by proving that the only \({\mathbb F}_q\)-linear set of rank 6 disjoint from the secant variety of the Veronese surface of \(\hbox {PG}(5,q^2)\) is a plane with three points of the Veronese surface of \(\hbox {PG}(5,q^6){\setminus } \hbox {PG}(5,q^2)\).     

Group divisible designs with large block sizes

For positive integers n, k with \(3\le k\le n\), let \(X=\mathbb {F}_{2^n}\setminus \{0,1\}\), \({\mathcal {G}}=\{\{x,x+1\}:x\in X\}\), and \({\mathcal {B}}_k=\left\{ \{x_1,x_2,\ldots ,x_k\}\!\subset \!X:\sum \limits _{i=1}^kx_i=1,\ \sum \limits _{i\in I}x_i\!\ne \!1\ \mathrm{for\ any}\ \emptyset \!\ne \!I\!\subsetneqq \!\{1,2,\ldots ,k\}\right\} \). Lee et al. used the inclusion–exclusion principle to show that the triple \((X,{\mathcal {G}},{\mathcal {B}}_k)\) is a \((k,\lambda _k)\)-GDD of type \(2^{2^{n-1}-1}\) for \(k\in \{3,4,5,6,7\}\) where \(\lambda _k=\frac{\prod _{i=3}^{k-1}(2^n-2^i)}{(k-2)!}\) (Lee et al. in Des Codes Cryptogr,  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10623-017-0395-8, 2017). They conjectured that \((X,{\mathcal {G}},{\mathcal {B}}_k)\) is also a \((k,\lambda _k)\)-GDD of type \(2^{2^{n-1}-1}\) for any integer \(k\ge 8\). In this paper, we use a similar construction and counting principles to show that there is a \((k,\lambda _k)\)-GDD of type \((q^2-q)^{(q^{n-1}-1)/(q-1)}\) for any prime power q and any integers k, n with \(3\le k\le n\) where \(\lambda _k=\frac{\prod _{i=3}^{k-1}(q^n-q^i)}{(k-2)!}\). Consequently, their conjecture holds. Such a method is also generalized to yield a \((k,\lambda _k)\)-GDD of type \((q^{\ell +1}-q^{\ell })^{(q^{n-\ell }-1)/(q-1)}\) where \(\lambda _k=\frac{\prod _{i=3}^{k-1}(q^n-q^{\ell +i-1})}{(k-2)!}\) and \(k+\ell \le n+1\).     

Quantum MDS codes with relatively large minimum distance from Hermitian self-orthogonal codes

It has become common knowledge that constructing q-ary quantum MDS codes with minimum distance bigger than \(q/2+1\) is significantly more difficult than constructing those with minimum distance less than or equal to \(q/2+1\). Despite of various constructions of q-ary quantum MDS codes, all known q-ary quantum MDS codes have minimum distance bounded by \(q/2+1\) except for some lengths. The purpose of the current paper is to provide some new q-ary quantum MDS codes with minimum distance bigger than \(q/2+1\). In this paper, we provide several classes of quantum MDS codes with minimum distance bigger than \(q/2+1\). For instance, some examples in these classes include q-ary \([n,n-2k, k+1]\)-quantum MDS codes for cases: (i) \(q\equiv -1\bmod {5}, n=(q^2+4)/5\) and \(1\le k\le (3q-2)/5\); (ii) \(q\equiv -1\bmod {7}, n=(q^2+6)/7\) and \(1\le k\le (4q-3)/7\); (iii) \(2|q, q\equiv -1\bmod {3}, n=2(q^2-1)/3\) and \(1\le k\le (2q-1)/3\); and (iv) \(2|q, q\equiv -1\bmod {5}, n=2(q^2-1)/5\) and \(1\le k\le (3q-2)/5\).     

On explicit minimum weight bases for extended cyclic codes related to Gold functions

Minimum weight bases of some extended cyclic codes can be chosen from the affine orbits of certain explicitly represented minimum weight codewords. We find such bases for the following three classes of codes: the extended primitive 2-error correcting BCH code of length \(n=2^m,\) where \(m\ge 4\) (for \(m\ge 20\) the result was proven in Grigorescu and Kaufman IEEE Trans Inf Theory 58(I. 2):78–81, 2011), the extended cyclic code \(\bar{C}_{1,5}\) of length \(n=2^m,\) odd m,  \(m\ge 5,\) and the extended cyclic codes \(\bar{C}_{1,2^i+1}\) of lengths \(n=2^m,\) \((i,\,m)=1\) and \(3\le i\le \frac{m-5}{4}-o(m).\)     

A relative <Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis>-cover of a Hermitian surface is a relative hemisystem

An m-cover of the Hermitian surface \(\mathrm {H}(3,q^2)\) of \(\mathrm {PG}(3,q^2)\) is a set \(\mathcal {S}\) of lines of \(\mathrm {H}(3,q^2)\) such that every point of \(\mathrm {H}(3,q^2)\) lies on exactly m lines of \(\mathcal {S}\), and \(0<m<q+1\). Segre (Annali di Matematica Pura ed Applicata Serie Quarta 70:1–201, 1965) proved that if q is odd, then \(m=(q+1)/2\), and called such a set \(\mathcal {S}\) of lines a hemisystem. Penttila and Williford (J Comb Theory Ser A 118(2):502–509, 2011) introduced the notion of a relative hemisystem of a generalised quadrangle \(\varGamma \) with respect to a subquadrangle \(\varGamma '\): a set of lines \(\mathcal {R}\) of \(\varGamma \) disjoint from \(\varGamma '\) such that every point P of \(\varGamma \setminus \varGamma '\) has half of its lines (disjoint from \(\varGamma '\)) lying in \(\mathcal {R}\). In this paper, we provide an analogue of Segre’s result by introducing relative m-covers of generalised quadrangles of order \((q^2,q)\) with respect to a subquadrangle and proving that m must be q / 2 when the subquadrangle is doubly subtended. In particular, a relative m-cover of \(\mathrm {H}(3,q^2)\) with respect to a symplectic subgeometry \(\mathrm {W}(3,q)\) is a relative hemisystem.     

On some constacyclic codes over $$\mathbb {Z}_{4}\left[ u\right] /\left\langle u^{2}-1\right\rangle $$, their $$\mathbb {Z}_4$$Z4 images,and new codes

In this paper, we study \(\lambda \)-constacyclic codes over the ring \(R=\mathbb {Z}_4+u\mathbb {Z}_4\) where \(u^{2}=1\), for \(\lambda =3+2u\) and \(2+3u\). Two new Gray maps from R to \(\mathbb {Z}_4^{3}\) are defined with the goal of obtaining new linear codes over \(\mathbb {Z}_4\). The Gray images of \(\lambda \)-constacyclic codes over R are determined. We then conducted a computer search and obtained many \(\lambda \)-constacyclic codes over R whose \(\mathbb {Z}_4\)-images have better parameters than currently best-known linear codes over \(\mathbb {Z}_4\).     

On complementary dual quasi-twisted codes

A linear complementary-dual (LCD) code C is a linear code whose dual code \(C^{\perp }\) satisfies \(C \cap C^{\perp }=\{0\}\). In this work we characterize some classes of LCD q-ary \((\lambda , l)\)-quasi-twisted (QT) codes of length \(n=ml\) with \((m,q)=1\), \(\lambda \in F_{q} \setminus \{0\}\) and \(\lambda \ne \lambda ^{-1}\). We show that every \((\lambda ,l)\)-QT code C of length \(n=ml\) with \(dim(C)<m\) or \(dim(C^{\perp })<m\) is an LCD code. A sufficient condition for r-generator QT codes is provided under which they are LCD. We show that every maximal 1-generator \((\lambda ,l)\)-QT code of length \(n=ml\) with \(l>2\) is either an LCD code or a self-orthogonal code and a sufficient condition for this family of codes is given under which such a code C is LCD. Also it is shown that every maximal 1-generator \((\lambda ,2)\)-QT code is LCD. Several good and optimal LCD QT codes are presented.     

A Spanning Set and Potential Basis of the Mixed Hecke Algebra on Two Fixed Strands

The mixed braid groups \(B_{2,n}, \ n \in \mathbb {N}\), with two fixed strands and n moving ones, are known to be related to the knot theory of certain families of 3-manifolds. In this paper, we define the mixed Hecke algebra \(\mathrm {H}_{2,n}(q)\) as the quotient of the group algebra \({\mathbb Z}\, [q^{\pm 1}] \, B_{2,n}\) over the quadratic relations of the classical Iwahori–Hecke algebra for the braiding generators. We further provide a potential basis \(\Lambda _n\) for \(\mathrm {H}_{2,n}(q)\), which we prove is a spanning set for the \(\mathbb {Z}[q^{\pm 1}]\)-additive structure of this algebra. The sets \(\Lambda _n,\ n \in \mathbb {Z}\) appear to be good candidates for an inductive basis suitable for the construction of Homflypt-type invariants for knots and links in the above 3-manifolds.     

On counting subring-submodules of free modules over finite commutative frobenius rings

Let \(\texttt {R}\) be a finite commutative Frobenius ring and \(\texttt {S}\) a Galois extension of \(\texttt {R}\) of degree m. For positive integers k and \(k'\), we determine the number of free \(\texttt {S}\)-submodules \(\mathcal {B}\) of \(\texttt {S}^\ell \) with the property \(k=\texttt {rank}_\texttt {S}(\mathcal {B})\) and \(k'=\texttt {rank}_\texttt {R}(\mathcal {B}\cap \texttt {R}^\ell )\). This corrects the wrong result (Bill in Linear Algebr Appl 22:223–233, 1978, Theorem 6) which was given in the language of codes over finite fields.     

The primitive idempotents and weight distributions of irreducible constacyclic codes

Let \({\mathbb {F}}_q\) be a finite field with q elements such that \(l^v||(q^t-1)\) and \(\gcd (l,q(q-1))=1\), where l, t are primes and v is a positive integer. In this paper, we give all primitive idempotents in a ring \(\mathbb F_q[x]/\langle x^{l^m}-a\rangle \) for \(a\in {\mathbb {F}}_q^*\). Specially for \(t=2\), we give the weight distributions of all irreducible constacyclic codes and their dual codes of length \(l^m\) over \({\mathbb {F}}_q\).     

Sandwich semigroups in locally small categories I: foundations

Fix (not necessarily distinct) objects i and j of a locally small category S, and write \(S_{ij}\) for the set of all morphisms \(i\rightarrow j\). Fix a morphism \(a\in S_{ji}\), and define an operation \(\star _a\) on \(S_{ij}\) by \(x\star _ay=xay\) for all \(x,y\in S_{ij}\). Then \((S_{ij},\star _a)\) is a semigroup, known as a sandwich semigroup, and denoted by \(S_{ij}^a\). This article develops a general theory of sandwich semigroups in locally small categories. We begin with structural issues such as regularity, Green’s relations and stability, focusing on the relationships between these properties on \(S_{ij}^a\) and the whole category S. We then identify a natural condition on a, called sandwich regularity, under which the set \({\text {Reg}}(S_{ij}^a)\) of all regular elements of \(S_{ij}^a\) is a subsemigroup of \(S_{ij}^a\). Under this condition, we carefully analyse the structure of the semigroup \({\text {Reg}}(S_{ij}^a)\), relating it via pullback products to certain regular subsemigroups of \(S_{ii}\) and \(S_{jj}\), and to a certain regular sandwich monoid defined on a subset of \(S_{ji}\); among other things, this allows us to also describe the idempotent-generated subsemigroup \(\mathbb E(S_{ij}^a)\) of \(S_{ij}^a\). We also study combinatorial invariants such as the rank (minimal size of a generating set) of the semigroups \(S_{ij}^a\), \({\text {Reg}}(S_{ij}^a)\) and \(\mathbb E(S_{ij}^a)\); we give lower bounds for these ranks, and in the case of \({\text {Reg}}(S_{ij}^a)\) and \(\mathbb E(S_{ij}^a)\) show that the bounds are sharp under a certain condition we call MI-domination. Applications to concrete categories of transformations and partial transformations are given in Part II.     

On kernels and nuclei of rank metric codes

For each rank metric code \(\mathcal {C}\subseteq \mathbb {K}^{m\times n}\), we associate a translation structure, the kernel of which is shown to be invariant with respect to the equivalence on rank metric codes. When \(\mathcal {C}\) is \(\mathbb {K}\)-linear, we also propose and investigate other two invariants called its middle nucleus and right nucleus. When \(\mathbb {K}\) is a finite field \(\mathbb {F}_q\) and \(\mathcal {C}\) is a maximum rank distance code with minimum distance \(d<\min \{m,n\}\) or \(\gcd (m,n)=1\), the kernel of the associated translation structure is proved to be \(\mathbb {F}_q\). Furthermore, we also show that the middle nucleus of a linear maximum rank distance code over \(\mathbb {F}_q\) must be a finite field; its right nucleus also has to be a finite field under the condition \(\max \{d,m-d+2\} \geqslant \left\lfloor \frac{n}{2} \right\rfloor +1\). Let \(\mathcal {D}\) be the DHO-set associated with a bilinear dimensional dual hyperoval over \(\mathbb {F}_2\). The set \(\mathcal {D}\) gives rise to a linear rank metric code, and we show that its kernel and right nucleus are isomorphic to \(\mathbb {F}_2\). Also, its middle nucleus must be a finite field containing \(\mathbb {F}_q\). Moreover, we also consider the kernel and the nuclei of \(\mathcal {D}^k\) where k is a Knuth operation.     

On the image,characterization, and automatic continuity of $$\varvec{(\sigma }, \varvec{\tau }$$ )-derivations

The first main theorem of this paper asserts that any \((\sigma , \tau )\)-derivation d, under certain conditions, either is a \(\sigma \)-derivation or is a scalar multiple of (\(\sigma - \tau \)), i.e. \(d = \lambda (\sigma - \tau )\) for some \(\lambda \in \mathbb {C} \backslash \{0\}\). By using this characterization, we achieve a result concerning the automatic continuity of \((\sigma , \tau \))-derivations on Banach algebras which reads as follows. Let \(\mathcal {A}\) be a unital, commutative, semi-simple Banach algebra, and let \(\sigma , \tau : \mathcal {A} \rightarrow \mathcal {A}\) be two distinct endomorphisms such that \(\varphi \sigma (\mathbf e )\) and \(\varphi \tau (\mathbf e )\) are non-zero complex numbers for all \(\varphi \in \Phi _\mathcal {A}\). If \(d : \mathcal {A} \rightarrow \mathcal {A}\) is a \((\sigma , \tau )\)-derivation such that \(\varphi d\) is a non-zero linear functional for every \(\varphi \in \Phi _\mathcal {A}\), then d is automatically continuous. As another objective of this research, we prove that if \(\mathfrak {M}\) is a commutative von Neumann algebra and \(\sigma :\mathfrak {M} \rightarrow \mathfrak {M}\) is an endomorphism, then every Jordan \(\sigma \)-derivation \(d:\mathfrak {M} \rightarrow \mathfrak {M}\) is identically zero.     

Eichler’s commutation relation and some other invariant subspaces of Hecke operators

Let k be an odd positive integer, L a lattice on a regular positive definite k-dimensional quadratic space over \(\mathbb {Q}\), \(N_L\) the level of L, and \(\mathscr {M}(L)\)  be the linear space of \(\theta \)-series attached to the distinct classes in the genus of L. We prove that, for an odd prime \(p|N_L\), if \(L_p=L_{p,1}\,\bot \, L_{p,2}\), where \(L_{p,1}\) is unimodular, \(L_{p,2}\) is (p)-modular, and \(\mathbb {Q}_pL_{p,2}\) is anisotropic, then \(\mathscr {M}(L;p):=\) \(\mathscr {M}(L)\) \(+T_{p^2}.\) \(\mathscr {M}(L)\)  is stable under the Hecke operator \(T_{p^2}\). If \(L_2\) is isometric to \(\left( \begin{array}{ll}0&{}\frac{1}{2}\\ \frac{1}{2}&{}0\end{array}\right) ^{\kappa }\,\bot \, \langle \varepsilon \rangle \) or \(\left( \begin{array}{ll}0&{}\frac{1}{2}\\ \frac{1}{2}&{}0\end{array}\right) ^{\kappa }\,\bot \, \langle 2\varepsilon \rangle \) or \(\left( \begin{array}{ll}0&{}1\\ 1&{}0\end{array}\right) ^{\kappa }\,\bot \, \langle \varepsilon \rangle \) with \(\varepsilon \in \mathbb {Z}_2^{\times }\) and \(\kappa :=\frac{k-1}{2}\), then \(\mathscr {M}(L;2):=T_{2^2}.\mathscr {M}(L)+T_{2^2}^2.\,\mathscr {M}(L)\) is stable under the Hecke operator \(T_{2^2}\). Furthermore, we determine some invariant subspaces of the cusp forms for the Hecke operators.     

Algebras of Convolution-Type Operators with Piecewise Slowly Oscillating Data on Weighted Lebesgue Spaces

Let \({\mathcal B}_{p,w}\) be the Banach algebra of all bounded linear operators acting on the weighted Lebesgue space \(L^p(\mathbb {R},w)\), where \(p\in (1,\infty )\) and w is a Muckenhoupt weight. We study the Banach subalgebra \(\mathfrak {A}_{p,w}\) of \({\mathcal B}_{p,w}\) generated by all multiplication operators aI (\(a\in \mathrm{PSO}^\diamond \)) and all convolution operators \(W^0(b)\) (\(b\in \mathrm{PSO}_{p,w}^\diamond \)), where \(\mathrm{PSO}^\diamond \subset L^\infty (\mathbb {R})\) and \(\mathrm{PSO}_{p,w}^\diamond \subset M_{p,w}\) are algebras of piecewise slowly oscillating functions that admit piecewise slowly oscillating discontinuities at arbitrary points of \(\mathbb {R}\cup \{\infty \}\), and \(M_{p,w}\) is the Banach algebra of Fourier multipliers on \(L^p(\mathbb {R},w)\). For any Muckenhoupt weight w, we study the Fredholmness in the Banach algebra \({\mathcal Z}_{p,w}\subset \mathfrak {A}_{p,w}\) generated by the operators \(aW^0(b)\) with slowly oscillating data \(a\in \mathrm{SO}^\diamond \) and \(b\in \mathrm{SO}^\diamond _{p,w}\). Then, under some condition on the weight w, we complete constructing a Fredholm symbol calculus for the Banach algebra \(\mathfrak {A}_{p,w}\) in comparison with Karlovich and Loreto Hernández (Integr. Equations Oper. Theory 74:377–415, 2012) and Karlovich and Loreto Hernández (Integr. Equations Oper. Theory 75:49–86, 2013) and establish a Fredholm criterion for the operators \(A\in \mathfrak {A}_{p,w}\) in terms of their symbols. A new approach to determine local spectra is found.     

The Gray image of constacyclic codes over the finite chain ring $$F_{p^m}[u]/\langle u^k\rangle $$

Let \(\mathbb {F}_{p^m}\) be a finite field of cardinality \(p^m\), where p is a prime, and k, N be any positive integers. We denote \(R_k=F_{p^m}[u]/\langle u^k\rangle =F_{p^m}+uF_{p^m}+\cdots +u^{k-1}F_{p^m}\) (\(u^k=0\)) and \(\lambda =a_0+a_1u+\cdots +a_{k-1}u^{k-1}\) where \(a_0, a_1,\ldots , a_{k-1}\in F_{p^m}\) satisfying \(a_0\ne 0\) and \(a_1=1\). Let r be a positive integer satisfying \(p^{r-1}+1\le k\le p^r\). First we define a Gray map from \(R_k\) to \(F_{p^m}^{p^r}\), then prove that the Gray image of any linear \(\lambda \)-constacyclic code over \(R_k\) of length N is a distance preserving linear \(a_0^{p^r}\)-constacyclic code over \(F_{p^m}\) of length \(p^rN\). Furthermore, the generator polynomials for each linear \(\lambda \)-constacyclic code over \(R_k\) of length N and its Gray image are given respectively. Finally, some optimal constacyclic codes over \(F_{3}\) and \(F_{5}\) are constructed.     

Linear codes over $$\mathbb {F}_{q}[x]/(x^2)$$ and $$GR(p^2,m)$$GR(p2,m) reaching the Griesmer bound

We construct two series of linear codes C(G) over \(\mathbb {F}_{q}[x]/(x^2)\) and \(GR(p^2,m)\) reaching the Griesmer bound. Moreover, we consider the Gray images of C(G). The results show that the Gray images of C(G) over \(\mathbb {F}_{q}[x]/(x^2)\) are linear and also reach the Griesmer bound in some cases, and many of linear codes over \(\mathbb {F}_{q}\) we constructed have two Hamming (non-zero) weights.     

Weighted local Hardy spaces associated with operators

Let L be a self-adjoint positive operator on \(L^2(\mathbb {R}^n)\). Assume that the semigroup \(e^{-tL}\) generated by \(-L\) satisfies the Gaussian kernel bounds on \(L^2(\mathbb {R}^n)\). In this article, we study weighted local Hardy space \(h_{L,w}^{1}(\mathbb {R}^n)\) associated with L in terms of the area function characterization, and prove their atomic characters. Then, we introduce the weighted local BMO space \(\mathrm{bmo}_{L,w}(\mathbb {R}^n)\) and prove that the dual of \(h_{L,w}^{1}(\mathbb {R}^n)\) is \(\mathrm{bmo}_{L,w}(\mathbb {R}^n)\). Finally a broad class of applications of these results is described.     

Semidefinite bounds for nonbinary codes based on quadruples

For nonnegative integers q, n, d, let \(A_q(n,d)\) denote the maximum cardinality of a code of length n over an alphabet [q] with q letters and with minimum distance at least d. We consider the following upper bound on \(A_q(n,d)\). For any k, let \(\mathcal{C}_k\) be the collection of codes of cardinality at most k. Then \(A_q(n,d)\) is at most the maximum value of \(\sum _{v\in [q]^n}x(\{v\})\), where x is a function \(\mathcal{C}_4\rightarrow {\mathbb {R}}_+\) such that \(x(\emptyset )=1\) and \(x(C)=\!0\) if C has minimum distance less than d, and such that the \(\mathcal{C}_2\times \mathcal{C}_2\) matrix \((x(C\cup C'))_{C,C'\in \mathcal{C}_2}\) is positive semidefinite. By the symmetry of the problem, we can apply representation theory to reduce the problem to a semidefinite programming problem with order bounded by a polynomial in n. It yields the new upper bounds \(A_4(6,3)\le 176\), \(A_4(7,3)\le 596\), \(A_4(7,4)\le 155\), \(A_5(7,4)\le 489\), and \(A_5(7,5)\le 87\).