error correction engineers

Abstract: The generalized packing--covering conjecture asks whether, at every order, the packing radius of a linear code is at most its covering radius. We prove the conjecture for every linear code of redundancy at most fourteen over every finite field, extending the previously established redundancy-seven range. We also prove the generalized Hamming-weight bound $d_t(C)\le2R_t(C)+1$ whenever the alphabet size $q$ satisfies $q\ge R_t(C)$, using an auxiliary-code criterion that converts a syndrome-space covering property into a weight bound. For binary primitive BCH codes, the packing radius is strictly smaller than the covering radius for every fixed error parameter and order, both at least two, once the extension degree is sufficiently large; this follows from existing covering bounds.

Abstract: The minimum distance and the covering radius are two fundamental properties of the code. Both have been extended: the former to the generalized Hamming weights hierarchy, and the latter to the generalized covering radii hierarchy. In both cases, the lowest level of the hierarchies corresponds to the classical minimum distance and covering radius, respectively. From a geometric point of view, the minimum distance of the code determines the packing radius, which is upper bounded by the covering radius. It was conjectured this relation extends to all other orders of the hierarchy, namely, that the generalized packing radii are upper bounded by the generalized covering radii of the same order. In this paper we prove this conjecture is true for the second order radii. We also prove the conjecture holds for all orders when the code rate is at most $3/5$. Finally, we show that for any code rate in $(0,1)$, for all sufficiently long codes the conjecture holds for all orders.

Abstract: Let $\mathrm{RM}_q(r,m)$ denote the generalized Reed--Muller code of order $r$ and length $q^m$ over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$. We completely determine the weight spectra of $\mathrm{RM}_3(2m-i,m)$ for $i=3,4$, $\mathrm{RM}_4(3m-i,m)$ for $i=2,3$, $\mathrm{RM}_5(4m-4,m)$, and $\mathrm{RM}_7(6m-4,m)$, in the ranges of $m$ specified in the corresponding results. The proofs proceed by induction on $m$, using a sumset inclusion for GRM weight spectra together with results on low-weight codewords. The required base cases are established by computations in Magma and, for certain ternary cases, exact constraint solving with Z3.

Abstract: We construct an explicit infinite family of simple two-dimensional Cayley complexes over $\mathbb{F}_2^n$ whose degree is polynomial in $n$ and whose nontrivial vertex-link eigenvalues lie in $[-λ,λ]$ for every fixed $λ>0$. For every fixed $d\ge2$, we also obtain an explicit infinite family of weighted $d$-dimensional Cayley complexes over $\mathbb{F}_2^n$ with codimension-two local spectral norm at most $1/d$ and Cayley degree $Θ_d(n)$. Our two-dimensional construction uses evaluation at rational points of algebraic curves to produce projective direction sets and many functions affine along these directions, which may be useful for further constructions and improvements.