Semidefinite code bounds based on quadruple distances

Let $A(n,d)$ be the maximum number of $0,1$ words of length $n$, any two having Hamming distance at least $d$. We prove $A(20,8)=256$, which implies that the quadruply shortened Golay code is optimal. Moreover, we show $A(18,6)\leq 673$, $A(19,6)\leq 1237$, $A(20,6)\leq 2279$, $A(23,6)\leq 13674$, $A(19,8)\leq 135$, $A(25,8)\leq 5421$, $A(26,8)\leq 9275$, $A(21,10)\leq 47$, $A(22,10)\leq 84$, $A(24,10)\leq 268$, $A(25,10)\leq 466$, $A(26,10)\leq 836$, $A(27,10)\leq 1585$, $A(25,12)\leq 55$, and $A(26,12)\leq 96$. The method is based on the positive semidefiniteness of matrices derived from quadruples of words. This can be put as constraint in a semidefinite program, whose optimum value is an upper bound for $A(n,d)$. The order of the matrices involved is huge. However, the semidefinite program is highly symmetric, by which its feasible region can be restricted to the algebra of matrices invariant under this symmetry. By block diagonalizing this algebra, the order of the matrices will be reduced so as to make the program solvable with semidefinite programming software in the above range of values of $n$ and $d$.Comment: 15 page

Semidefinite programming bounds for Lee codes

For $q,n,d \in \mathbb{N}$, let $A_q^L(n,d)$ denote the maximum cardinality of a code $C \subseteq \mathbb{Z}_q^n$ with minimum Lee distance at least $d$, where $\mathbb{Z}_q$ denotes the cyclic group of order $q$. We consider a semidefinite programming bound based on triples of codewords, which bound can be computed efficiently using symmetry reductions, resulting in several new upper bounds on $A_q^L(n,d)$. The technique also yields an upper bound on the independent set number of the $n$-th strong product power of the circular graph $C_{d,q}$, which number is related to the Shannon capacity of $C_{d,q}$. Here $C_{d,q}$ is the graph with vertex set $\mathbb{Z}_q$, in which two vertices are adjacent if and only if their distance (mod $q$) is strictly less than $d$. The new bound does not seem to improve significantly over the bound obtained from Lov\'asz theta-function, except for very small $n$.Comment: 14 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1703.0517

The Independence Number of the Orthogonality Graph in Dimension 2k2^k

We determine the independence number of the orthogonality graph on $2^k$-dimensional hypercubes. This answers a question by Galliard from 2001 which is motivated by a problem in quantum information theory. Our method is a modification of a rank argument due to Frankl who showed the analogous result for $4p^k$-dimensional hypercubes, where $p$ is an odd prime.Comment: 3 pages, accepted by Combinatorica, fixed a minor typo spotted by Peter Si

Semidefinite bounds for mixed binary/ternary codes

For nonnegative integers $n_2, n_3$ and $d$, let $N(n_2,n_3,d)$ denote the maximum cardinality of a code of length $n_2+n_3$, with $n_2$ binary coordinates and $n_3$ ternary coordinates (in this order) and with minimum distance at least $d$. For a nonnegative integer $k$, let $\mathcal{C}_k$ denote the collection of codes of cardinality at most $k$. For $D \in \mathcal{C}_k$, define $S(D) := \{C \in \mathcal{C}_k \mid D \subseteq C, |D| +2|C\setminus D| \leq k\}$. Then $N(n_2,n_3,d)$ is upper bounded by the maximum value of $\sum_{v \in [2]^{n_2}[3]^{n_3}}x(\{v\})$, where $x$ is a function $\mathcal{C}_k \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ such that $x(\emptyset) = 1$ and $x(C) = 0$ if $C$ has minimum distance less than $d$, and such that the $S(D)\times S(D)$ matrix $(x(C\cup C'))_{C,C' \in S(D)}$ is positive semidefinite for each $D \in \mathcal{C}_k$. By exploiting symmetry, the semidefinite programming problem for the case $k=3$ is reduced using representation theory. It yields $135$ new upper bounds that are provided in tablesComment: 12 pages; some typos have been fixed. Accepted for publication in Discrete Mathematic

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 \CC_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 \CC_4\to R_+ such that $x(\emptyset)=1$ and $x(C)=0$ if $C$ has minimum distance less than $d$, and such that the \CC_2\times\CC_2 matrix (x(C\cup C'))_{C,C'\in\CC_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 $A_4(6,3)\leq 176$, $A_4(7,4)\leq 155$, $A_5(7,4)\leq 489$, and $A_5(7,5)\leq 87$

Three-point bounds for energy minimization

Three-point semidefinite programming bounds are one of the most powerful known tools for bounding the size of spherical codes. In this paper, we use them to prove lower bounds for the potential energy of particles interacting via a pair potential function. We show that our bounds are sharp for seven points in RP^2. Specifically, we prove that the seven lines connecting opposite vertices of a cube and of its dual octahedron are universally optimal. (In other words, among all configurations of seven lines through the origin, this one minimizes energy for all potential functions that are completely monotonic functions of squared chordal distance.) This configuration is the only known universal optimum that is not distance regular, and the last remaining universal optimum in RP^2. We also give a new derivation of semidefinite programming bounds and present several surprising conjectures about them.Comment: 30 page