On triply even binary codes

Abstract

A triply even code is a binary linear code in which the weight of every codeword is divisible by 8. We show how two doubly even codes of lengths m_1 and m_2 can be combined to make a triply even code of length m_1+m_2, and then prove that every maximal triply even code of length 48 can be obtained by combining two doubly even codes of length 24 in a certain way. Using this result, we show that there are exactly 10 maximal triply even codes of length 48 up to equivalence.Comment: 21 pages + appendix of 10 pages. Minor revisio