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The Desarguesian ovoids in the orthogonal polar space $Q^+(7,q)$ with $q$ even have first been introduced by Kantor by examining the $8$-dimensional absolutely irreducible modular representations of $\text{PGL}(2,q^3)$. We investigate this module for all prime power values of $q$. The shortest $\text{PGL}(2,q^3)$-orbit $O$ gives the Desarguesian ovoid in $Q^+(7,q)$ for even $q$ and it is known to give a complete partial ovoid of the symplectic polar space $W(7,q)$ for odd~$q$. We determine the hyperplane sections of $O$. As a corollary, we obtain the parameters $[q^3+1,8,q^3-q^2-q]_q$ and the weight distribution of the associated $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear code $C_O$ and the parameters $[q^3+1,q^3-7,5]_q$ of the dual code $C_O^\perp$ for $q \ge 4$. We also show that both codes $C_O$ and $C_O^\perp$ are length-optimal for all prime power values of $q$.

The Pursley-Sarwate criterion of a pair of finite complex-valued sequences measures the collective smallness of the aperiodic autocorrelations and the aperiodic crosscorrelations of the two sequences. It is known that this quantity is always at least 1 with equality if and only if the sequence pair is a Golay pair. We exhibit pairs of complex-valued sequences whose entries have unit magnitude for which the Pursley-Sarwate criterion tends to 1 as the sequence length tends to infinity. Our constructions use different carefully chosen Chu sequences., Comment: 12 pages, this version contains small changes taking into account referee comments

Let $\mathscr{Q}(m,q)$ and $\mathscr{S}(m,q)$ be the sets of quadratic forms and symmetric bilinear forms on an $m$-dimensional vector space over $\mathbb{F}_q$, respectively. The orbits of $\mathscr{Q}(m,q)$ and $\mathscr{S}(m,q)$ under a natural group action induce two translation association schemes, which are known to be dual to each other. We give explicit expressions for the eigenvalues of these association schemes in terms of linear combinations of generalised Krawtchouk polynomials, generalising earlier results for odd $q$ to the more difficult case when $q$ is even. We then study $d$-codes in these schemes, namely subsets $X$ of $\mathscr{Q}(m,q)$ or $\mathscr{S}(m,q)$ with the property that, for all distinct $A,B\in X$, the rank of $A-B$ is at least $d$. We prove tight bounds on the size of $d$-codes and show that, when these bounds hold with equality, the inner distributions of the subsets are often uniquely determined by their parameters. We also discuss connections to classical error-correcting codes and show how the Hamming distance distribution of large classes of codes over $\mathbb{F}_q$ can be determined from the results of this paper., Comment: 33 pages

The largest Hamming distance between a Boolean function in $n$ variables and the set of all affine Boolean functions in $n$ variables is known as the covering radius $\rho_n$ of the $[2^n,n+1]$ Reed-Muller code. This number determines how well Boolean functions can be approximated by linear Boolean functions. We prove that \[ \lim_{n\to\infty}2^{n/2}-\rho_n/2^{n/2-1}=1, \] which resolves a conjecture due to Patterson and Wiedemann from 1983.

Maximum rank-distance (MRD) codes are extremal codes in the space of $m\times n$ matrices over a finite field, equipped with the rank metric. Up to generalizations, the classical examples of such codes were constructed in the 1970s and are today known as Gabidulin codes. Motivated by several recent approaches to construct MRD codes that are inequivalent to Gabidulin codes, we study the equivalence issue for Gabidulin codes themselves. This shows in particular that the family of Gabidulin codes already contains a huge subset of MRD codes that are pairwise inequivalent, provided that $2\le m\le n-2$., Comment: 11 pages

The extent to which a sequence of finite length differs from a shifted version of itself is measured by its aperiodic autocorrelations. Of particular interest are sequences whose entries are 1 or -1, called binary sequences, and sequences whose entries are complex numbers of unit magnitude, called unimodular sequences. Since the 1950s, there is sustained interest in sequences with small aperiodic autocorrelations relative to the sequence length. One of the main motivations is that a sequence with small aperiodic autocorrelations is intrinsically suited for the separation of signals from noise, and therefore has natural applications in digital communications. This survey reviews the state of knowledge concerning the two central problems in this area: How small can the aperiodic autocorrelations of a binary or a unimodular sequence collectively be and how can we efficiently find the best such sequences? Since the analysis and construction of sequences with small aperiodic autocorrelations is closely tied to the (often much easier) analysis of periodic autocorrelation properties, several fundamental results on corresponding problems in the periodic setting are also reviewed., Comment: Survey paper, 32 pages

The problem of constructing polynomials with all coefficients $1$ or $-1$ and large merit factor (equivalently with small $L^4$ norm on the unit circle) arises naturally in complex analysis, condensed matter physics, and digital communications engineering. Most known constructions arise (sometimes in a subtle way) from difference sets, in particular from Paley and Singer difference sets. We consider the asymptotic merit factor of polynomials constructed from other difference sets, providing the first essentially new examples since 1991. In particular we prove a general theorem on the asymptotic merit factor of polynomials arising from cyclotomy, which includes results on Hall and Paley difference sets as special cases. In addition, we establish the asymptotic merit factor of polynomials derived from Gordon-Mills-Welch difference sets and Sidelnikov almost difference sets, proving two recent conjectures., Comment: 22 pages, this revision contains a more general version of Thm. 2.1

A Barker sequence is a binary sequence for which all nontrivial aperiodic autocorrelations are at most 1 in magnitude. An old conjecture due to Turyn asserts that there is no Barker sequence of length greater than 13. In 1961, Turyn and Storer gave an elementary, though somewhat complicated, proof that this conjecture holds for odd lengths. We give a new and simpler proof of this result., Comment: 6 pages, this note supersedes the main result of arXiv:1409.1434

Let $q$ be an odd prime power and let $X(m,q)$ be the set of symmetric bilinear forms on an $m$-dimensional vector space over $\mathbb{F}_q$. The partition of $X(m,q)$ induced by the action of the general linear group gives rise to a commutative translation association scheme. We give explicit expressions for the eigenvalues of this scheme in terms of linear combinations of generalised Krawtchouk polynomials. We then study $d$-codes in this scheme, namely subsets $Y$ of $X(m,q)$ with the property that, for all distinct $A,B\in Y$, the rank of $A-B$ is at least $d$. We prove bounds on the size of a $d$-code and show that, under certain conditions, the inner distribution of a $d$-code is determined by its parameters. Constructions of $d$-codes are given, which are optimal among the $d$-codes that are subgroups of $X(m,q)$. Finally, with every subset $Y$ of $X(m,q)$, we associate two classical codes over $\mathbb{F}_q$ and show that their Hamming distance enumerators can be expressed in terms of the inner distribution of $Y$. As an example, we obtain the distance enumerators of certain cyclic codes, for which many special cases have been previously obtained using long ad hoc calculations., Comment: 33 pages

Planar functions are special functions from a finite field to itself that give rise to finite projective planes and other combinatorial objects. We consider polynomials over a finite field $K$ that induce planar functions on infinitely many extensions of $K$; we call such polynomials exceptional planar. Exceptional planar monomials have been recently classified. In this paper we establish a partial classification of exceptional planar polynomials. This includes results for the classical planar functions on finite fields of odd characteristic and for the recently proposed planar functions on finite fields of characteristic two.

The r-th order nonlinearity of a Boolean function is the minimum number of elements that have to be changed in its truth table to arrive at a Boolean function of degree at most r. It is shown that the (suitably normalised) r-th order nonlinearity of a random Boolean function converges strongly for all r\ge 1. This extends results by Rodier for r=1 and by Dib for r=2. The methods in the present paper are mostly of elementary combinatorial nature and also lead to simpler proofs in the cases that r=1 or 2.

Classical planar functions are functions from a finite field to itself and give rise to finite projective planes. They exist however only for fields of odd characteristic. We study their natural counterparts in characteristic two, which we also call planar functions. They again give rise to finite projective planes, as recently shown by the second author. We give a characterisation of planar functions in characteristic two in terms of codes over $\mathbb{Z}_4$. We then specialise to planar monomial functions $f(x)=cx^t$ and present constructions and partial results towards their classification. In particular, we show that $t=1$ is the only odd exponent for which $f(x)=cx^t$ is planar (for some nonzero $c$) over infinitely many fields. The proof techniques involve methods from algebraic geometry., Comment: 23 pages, minor corrections and simplifications compared to the first version

The identification of binary sequences with large merit factor (small mean-squared aperiodic autocorrelation) is an old problem of complex analysis and combinatorial optimization, with practical importance in digital communications engineering and condensed matter physics. We establish the asymptotic merit factor of several families of binary sequences and thereby prove various conjectures, explain numerical evidence presented by other authors, and bring together within a single framework results previously appearing in scattered form. We exhibit, for the first time, families of skew-symmetric sequences whose asymptotic merit factor is as large as the best known value (an algebraic number greater than 6.34) for all binary sequences; this is interesting in light of Golay's conjecture that the subclass of skew-symmetric sequences has asymptotically optimal merit factor. Our methods combine Fourier analysis, estimation of character sums, and estimation of the number of lattice points in polyhedra., Comment: 31 pages, minor revisions

Littlewood asked how small the ratio $||f||_4/||f||_2$ (where $||.||_\alpha$ denotes the $L^\alpha$ norm on the unit circle) can be for polynomials $f$ having all coefficients in $\{1,-1\}$, as the degree tends to infinity. Since 1988, the least known asymptotic value of this ratio has been $\sqrt[4]{7/6}$, which was conjectured to be minimum. We disprove this conjecture by showing that there is a sequence of such polynomials, derived from the Fekete polynomials, for which the limit of this ratio is less than $\sqrt[4]{22/19}$., Comment: minor revisions

We calculate the asymptotic merit factor, under all cyclic rotations of rows and columns, of two families of binary two-dimensional arrays derived from the quadratic character. The arrays in these families have size p x q, where p and q are not necessarily distinct odd primes, and can be considered as two-dimensional generalisations of a Legendre sequence. The asymptotic values of the merit factor of the two families are generally different, although the maximum asymptotic merit factor, taken over all cyclic rotations of rows and columns, equals 36/13 for both families. These are the first non-trivial theoretical results for the asymptotic merit factor of families of truly two-dimensional binary arrays., Comment: minor corrections

Let $A_n=(a_0,a_1,\dots,a_{n-1})$ be drawn uniformly at random from $\{-1,+1\}^n$ and define \[ M(A_n)=\max_{01$}. \] It is proved that $M(A_n)/\sqrt{n\log n}$ converges in probability to $\sqrt{2}$. This settles a problem first studied by Moon and Moser in the 1960s and proves in the affirmative a recent conjecture due to Alon, Litsyn, and Shpunt. It is also shown that the expectation of $M(A_n)/\sqrt{n\log n}$ tends to $\sqrt{2}$., Comment: minor revisions and corrections compared to the first version

Littlewood raised the question of how slowly the L_4 norm ||f||_4 of a Littlewood polynomial f (having all coefficients in {-1,+1}) of degree n-1 can grow with n. We consider such polynomials for odd square-free n, where \phi(n) coefficients are determined by the Jacobi symbol, but the remaining coefficients can be freely chosen. When n is prime, these polynomials have the smallest known asymptotic value of the normalised L_4 norm ||f||_4/||f||_2 among all Littlewood polynomials, namely (7/6)^{1/4}. When n is not prime, our results show that the normalised L_4 norm varies considerably according to the free choices of the coefficients and can even grow without bound. However, by suitably choosing these coefficients, the limit of the normalised L_4 norm can be made as small as the best known value (7/6)^{1/4}., Comment: minor revisions

A constant-amplitude code is a code that reduces the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) in multicode code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA) systems to the favorable value 1. In this paper quaternary constant-amplitude codes (codes over Z_4) of length 2^m with error-correction capabilities are studied. These codes exist for every positive integer m, while binary constant-amplitude codes cannot exist if m is odd. Every word of such a code corresponds to a function from the binary m-tuples to Z_4 having the bent property, i.e., its Fourier transform has magnitudes 2^{m/2}. Several constructions of such functions are presented, which are exploited in connection with algebraic codes over Z_4 (in particular quaternary Reed-Muller, Kerdock, and Delsarte-Goethals codes) to construct families of quaternary constant-amplitude codes. Mappings from binary to quaternary constant-amplitude codes are presented as well., Comment: This is the revised journal version

The peak-to-mean envelope power ratio (PMEPR) of a code employed in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems can be reduced by permuting its coordinates and by rotating each coordinate by a fixed phase shift. Motivated by some previous designs of phase shifts using suboptimal methods, the following question is considered in this paper. For a given binary code, how much PMEPR reduction can be achieved when the phase shifts are taken from a 2^h-ary phase-shift keying (2^h-PSK) constellation? A lower bound on the achievable PMEPR is established, which is related to the covering radius of the binary code. Generally speaking, the achievable region of the PMEPR shrinks as the covering radius of the binary code decreases. The bound is then applied to some well understood codes, including nonredundant BPSK signaling, BCH codes and their duals, Reed-Muller codes, and convolutional codes. It is demonstrated that most (presumably not optimal) phase-shift designs from the literature attain or approach our bound., Comment: minor revisions, accepted for IEEE Trans. Commun.

The use of error-correcting codes for tight control of the peak-to-mean envelope power ratio (PMEPR) in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission is considered in this correspondence. By generalizing a result by Paterson, it is shown that each q-phase (q is even) sequence of length 2^m lies in a complementary set of size 2^{k+1}, where k is a nonnegative integer that can be easily determined from the generalized Boolean function associated with the sequence. For small k this result provides a reasonably tight bound for the PMEPR of q-phase sequences of length 2^m. A new 2^h-ary generalization of the classical Reed-Muller code is then used together with the result on complementary sets to derive flexible OFDM coding schemes with low PMEPR. These codes include the codes developed by Davis and Jedwab as a special case. In certain situations the codes in the present correspondence are similar to Paterson's code constructions and often outperform them.

Golay sequences are well suited for the use as codewords in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), since their peak-to-mean envelope power ratio (PMEPR) in q-ary phase-shift keying (PSK) modulation is at most 2. It is known that a family of polyphase Golay sequences of length 2^m organizes in m!/2 cosets of a q-ary generalization of the first-order Reed-Muller code, RM_q(1,m). In this paper a more general construction technique for cosets of RM_q(1,m) with low PMEPR is established. These cosets contain so-called near-complementary sequences. The application of this theory is then illustrated by providing some construction examples. First, it is shown that the m!/2 cosets of RM_q(1,m) comprised of Golay sequences just arise as a special case. Second, further families of cosets of RM_q(1,m) with maximum PMEPR between 2 and 4 are presented, showing that some previously unexplained phenomena can now be understood within a unified framework. A lower bound on the PMEPR of cosets of RM_q(1,m) is proved as well, and it is demonstrated that the upper bound on the PMEPR is tight in many cases. Finally it is shown that all upper bounds on the PMEPR of cosets of RM_q(1,m) also hold for the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) under the Walsh-Hadamard transform.

In this paper new codes for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) with tightly controlled peak-to-mean envelope power ratio (PMEPR) are proposed. We identify a new family of sequences occuring in complementary sets and show that such sequences form subsets of a new generalization of the Reed--Muller codes. Contrarily to previous constructions we present a compact description of such codes, which makes them suitable even for larger block lengths. We also show that some previous constructions just occur as special cases in our construction., Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory, Sept. 4-9, 2005, Adelaide, Australia

An efficient decoder for the generalized first-order Reed-Muller code RM_q(1,m) is essential for the decoding of various block-coding schemes for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing with reduced peak-to-mean power ratio. We present an efficient and simple maximum-likelihood decoding algorithm for RM_q(1,m). It is shown that this algorithm has lower complexity than other previously known maximum-likelihood decoders for RM_q(1,m)., Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in IEEE Communications Letters