On the non-minimality of the largest weight codewords in the binary Reed-Muller codes

The study of minimal codewords in linear codes was motivated by Massey who described how minimal codewords of a linear code define access structures for secret sharing schemes. As a consequence of his article, Borissov, Manev, and Nikova initiated the study of minimal codewords in the binary Reed-Muller codes. They counted the number of non-minimal codewords of weight 2d in the binary Reed-Muller codes RM(r, in), and also gave results on the non-minimality of codewords of large weight in the binary Reed-Muller codes RM(r, in). The results of Borissov, Manev, and Nikova regarding the counting of the number of non-minimal codewords of small weight in RM(r,m) were improved by Schillewaert, Storme, and Thas who counted the number of non-minimal codewords of weight smaller than 3d in RM(r,m). This article now presents new results on the non-minimality of large weight codewords in RM(r, m)

Applications of finite geometry in coding theory and cryptography

We present in this article the basic properties of projective geometry, coding theory, and cryptography, and show how finite geometry can contribute to coding theory and cryptography. In this way, we show links between three research areas, and in particular, show that finite geometry is not only interesting from a pure mathematical point of view, but also of interest for applications. We concentrate on introducing the basic concepts of these three research areas and give standard references for all these three research areas. We also mention particular results involving ideas from finite geometry, and particular results in cryptography involving ideas from coding theory

Functional codes arising from quadric intersections with Hermitian varieties

AbstractWe investigate the functional code Ch(X) introduced by G. Lachaud (1996) [10] in the special case where X is a non-singular Hermitian variety in PG(N,q2) and h=2. In [4], F.A.B. Edoukou (2007) solved the conjecture of Sørensen (1991) [11] on the minimum distance of this code for a Hermitian variety X in PG(3,q2). In this paper, we will answer the question about the minimum distance in general dimension N, with N<O(q2). We also prove that the small weight codewords correspond to the intersection of X with the union of 2 hyperplanes

The use of blocking sets in Galois geometries and in related research areas

Blocking sets play a central role in Galois geometries. Besides their intrinsic geometrical importance, the importance of blocking sets also arises from the use of blocking sets for the solution of many other geometrical problems, and problems in related research areas. This article focusses on these applications to motivate researchers to investigate blocking sets, and to motivate researchers to investigate the problems that can be solved by using blocking sets. By showing the many applications on blocking sets, we also wish to prove that researchers who improve results on blocking sets in fact open the door to improvements on the solution of many other problems

Maximal partial line spreads of non-singular quadrics

For n >= 9 , we construct maximal partial line spreads for non-singular quadrics of for every size between approximately and , for some small constants and . These results are similar to spectrum results on maximal partial line spreads in finite projective spaces by Heden, and by Gacs and SzAnyi. These results also extend spectrum results on maximal partial line spreads in the finite generalized quadrangles and by Pepe, Roing and Storme

A study of (x(q+1),x;2,q)-minihypers

In this paper, we study the weighted (x(q + 1), x; 2, q)-minihypers. These are weighted sets of x(q + 1) points in PG(2, q) intersecting every line in at least x points. We investigate the decomposability of these minihypers, and define a switching construction which associates to an (x(q + 1), x; 2, q)-minihyper, with x <= q(2) - q, not decomposable in the sum of another minihyper and a line, a (j (q + 1), j; 2, q)-minihyper, where j = q(2) - q-x, again not decomposable into the sum of another minihyper and a line. We also characterize particular (x(q + 1), x; 2, q)-minihypers, and give new examples. Additionally, we show that (x(q + 1), x; 2, q)-minihypers can be described as rational sums of lines. In this way, this work continues the research on (x(q + 1), x; 2, q)-minihypers by Hill and Ward (Des Codes Cryptogr 44: 169-196, 2007), giving further results on these minihypers

Large weight code words in projective space codes

AbstractRecently, a large number of results have appeared on the small weights of the (dual) linear codes arising from finite projective spaces. We now focus on the large weights of these linear codes. For q even, this study for the code Ck(n,q)⊥ reduces to the theory of minimal blocking sets with respect to the k-spaces of PG(n,q), odd-blocking the k-spaces. For q odd, in a lot of cases, the maximum weight of the code Ck(n,q)⊥ is equal to qn+⋯+q+1, but some unexpected exceptions arise to this result. In particular, the maximum weight of the code C1(n,3)⊥ turns out to be 3n+3n-1. In general, the problem of whether the maximum weight of the code Ck(n,q)⊥, with q=3h (h⩾1), is equal to qn+⋯+q+1, reduces to the problem of the existence of sets of points in PG(n,q) intersecting every k-space in 2(mod3) points

Generalised dual arcs and Veronesean surfaces, with applications to cryptography

We start by defining generalised dual arcs, the motivation for defining them comes from cryptography, since they can serve as a tool to construct authentication codes and secret sharing schemes. We extend the characterisation of the tangent planes of the Veronesean surface V-2(4) in PG(5,q), q odd, described in [J.W.P. Hirschfeld, J.A. Thas, General Galois Geometries, Oxford Math. Monogr., Clarendon Press/Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1991], as a set of q(2) + q + 1 planes in PG(5, q), such that every two intersect in a point and every three are skew. We show that a set of q 2 + q planes generating PG(5, q), q odd, and satisfying the above properties can be extended to a set of q2 + q + I planes still satisfying all conditions. This result is a natural generalisation of the fact that a q-arc in PG(2, q), q odd, can always be extended to a (q + 1)-arc. This extension result is then used to study a regular generalised dual arc with parameters (9, 5, 2, 0) in PG(9, q), q odd, where we obtain an algebraic characterisation of such an object as being the image of a cubic Veronesean