Higher Hamming weights for locally recoverable codes on algebraic curves

We study the locally recoverable codes on algebraic curves. In the first part of this article, we provide a bound of generalized Hamming weight of these codes. Whereas in the second part, we propose a new family of algebraic geometric LRC codes, that are LRC codes from Norm-Trace curve. Finally, using some properties of Hermitian codes, we improve the bounds of distance proposed in [1] for some Hermitian LRC codes. [1] A. Barg, I. Tamo, and S. Vlladut. Locally recoverable codes on algebraic curves. arXiv preprint arXiv:1501.04904, 2015

Good Ensembles of Goppa Codes

It is well-known that random error-correcting codes achieve the Gilbert-Varshamov bound with high probability. In [2], the authors describe a construction which can be used to yield a polynomially large family of codes of which a large fraction achieve the Gilbert-Varshamov bound. In this project, we investigate ways to obtain codes known to achieve this bound, given such a family of codes. Since computing the minimum distance of a code is NP-hard, we work with a class of Goppa codes described in [1] whose minimum distance is known. We know that there exist Goppa codes which achieve the Gilbert-Varshamov bound, but we do not know if there are codes in this class which achieve it. We investigate various approaches to determining the rate of a code and try to apply them to this class of codes in order to determine if they achieve the Gilbert-Varshamov bound. These approaches include investigating upper bounds on the covering radius of a code and refining an existing lower bound on the code dimension. We also implemented the described class of Goppa codes using the PARI/GP computer algebra system [5], in order to obtain numerical values which would allow us to detect patterns and formulate conjectures regarding those codes

New Bounds on the Distance Distribution of Extended Goppa Codes

AbstractWe derive new estimates for the error term in the binomial approximation to the distance distribution of extended Goppa codes. This is an improvement on the earlier bounds by Vladuts and Skorobogatov, and Levy and Litsyn

Diameter, Covering Index, Covering Radius and Eigenvalues

AbstractFan Chung has recently derived an upper bound on the diameter of a regular graph as a function of the second largest eigenvalue in absolute value. We generalize this bound to the case of bipartite biregular graphs, and regular directed graphs.We also observe the connection with the primitivity exponent of the adjacency matrix. This applies directly to the covering number of Finite Non Abelian Simple Groups (FINASIG). We generalize this latter problem to primitive association schemes, such as the conjugacy scheme of Paige's simple loop.By noticing that the covering radius of a linear code is the diameter of a Cayley graph on the cosets, we derive an upper bound on the covering radius of a code as a function of the scattering of the weights of the dual code. When the code has even weights, we obtain a bound on the covering radius as a function of the dual distance dl which is tighter, for d⊥ large enough, than the recent bounds of Tietäväinen

Some Notes on Code-Based Cryptography

This thesis presents new cryptanalytic results in several areas of coding-based cryptography. In addition, we also investigate the possibility of using convolutional codes in code-based public-key cryptography. The first algorithm that we present is an information-set decoding algorithm, aiming towards the problem of decoding random linear codes. We apply the generalized birthday technique to information-set decoding, improving the computational complexity over previous approaches. Next, we present a new version of the McEliece public-key cryptosystem based on convolutional codes. The original construction uses Goppa codes, which is an algebraic code family admitting a well-defined code structure. In the two constructions proposed, large parts of randomly generated parity checks are used. By increasing the entropy of the generator matrix, this presumably makes structured attacks more difficult. Following this, we analyze a McEliece variant based on quasi-cylic MDPC codes. We show that when the underlying code construction has an even dimension, the system is susceptible to, what we call, a squaring attack. Our results show that the new squaring attack allows for great complexity improvements over previous attacks on this particular McEliece construction. Then, we introduce two new techniques for finding low-weight polynomial multiples. Firstly, we propose a general technique based on a reduction to the minimum-distance problem in coding, which increases the multiplicity of the low-weight codeword by extending the code. We use this algorithm to break some of the instances used by the TCHo cryptosystem. Secondly, we propose an algorithm for finding weight-4 polynomials. By using the generalized birthday technique in conjunction with increasing the multiplicity of the low-weight polynomial multiple, we obtain a much better complexity than previously known algorithms. Lastly, two new algorithms for the learning parities with noise (LPN) problem are proposed. The first one is a general algorithm, applicable to any instance of LPN. The algorithm performs favorably compared to previously known algorithms, breaking the 80-bit security of the widely used (512,1/8) instance. The second one focuses on LPN instances over a polynomial ring, when the generator polynomial is reducible. Using the algorithm, we break an 80-bit security instance of the Lapin cryptosystem