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Every simple game is a monotone Boolean function. For the other direction we just have to exclude the two constant functions. The enumeration of monotone Boolean functions with distinguishable variables is also known as the Dedekind's problem. The corresponding number for nine variables was determined just recently by two disjoint research groups. Considering permutations of the variables as symmetries we can also speak about non-equivalent monotone Boolean functions (or simple games). Here we consider simple games with minimum, i.e., simple games with a unique minimal winning vector. A closed formula for the number of such games is found as well as its dimension in terms of the number of players and equivalence classes of players., Comment: 16 pages, 2 tables

Additive codes may have better parameters than linear codes. However, still very few cases are known and the explicit construction of such codes is a challenging problem. Here we show that a Griesmer type bound for the length of additive codes can always be attained with equality if the minimum distance is sufficiently large. This solves the problem for the optimal parameters of additive codes when the minimum distance is large and yields many infinite series of additive codes that outperform linear codes., Comment: 100 pages, 19 tables

After the optimal parameters of additive quaternary codes of dimension $k\le 3$ have been determined there is some recent activity to settle the next case of dimension $k=3.5$. Here we complete dimension $k=3.5$ and give partial results for dimension $k=4$., Comment: 4 pages, 1 table

Linear codes play a central role in coding theory and have applications in several branches of mathematics. For error correction purposes the minimum Hamming distance should be as large as possible. Linear codes related to applications in Galois Geometry often require a certain divisibility of the occurring weights. In this paper we present an algorithmic framework for the classification of linear codes over finite fields with restricted sets of weights. The underlying algorithms are based on lattice point enumeration and integer linear programming. We present new enumeration and non-existence results for projective two-weight codes, divisible codes, and additive $\mathbb{F}_4$-codes., Comment: 9 pages

It has been known since the 1970's that the difference of the non-zero weights of a projective $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear two-weight has to be a power of the characteristic of the underlying field. Here we study non-projective two-weight codes and e.g.\ show the same result under mild extra conditions. For small dimensions we give exhaustive enumerations of the feasible parameters in the binary case., Comment: 27 pages, 14 tables, appendix on parameters of projective two-weight codes added

We consider locally recoverable codes (LRCs) and aim to determine the smallest possible length $n=n_q(k,d,r)$ of a linear $[n,k,d]_q$-code with locality $r$. For $k\le 7$ we exactly determine all values of $n_2(k,d,2)$ and for $k\le 6$ we exactly determine all values of $n_2(k,d,1)$. For the ternary field we also state a few numerical results. As a general result we prove that $n_q(k,d,r)$ equals the Griesmer bound if the minimum Hamming distance $d$ is sufficiently large and all other parameters are fixed., Comment: 23 pages, 3 tables

Minimal codes are linear codes where all non-zero codewords are minimal, i.e., whose support is not properly contained in the support of another codeword. The minimum possible length of such a $k$-dimensional linear code over $\mathbb{F}_q$ is denoted by $m(k,q)$. Here we determine $m(7,2)$, $m(8,2)$, and $m(9,2)$, as well as full classifications of all codes attaining $m(k,2)$ for $k\le 7$ and those attaining $m(9,2)$. For $m(11,2)$ and $m(12,2)$ we give improved upper bounds. It turns out that in many cases attaining extremal codes have the property that the weights of all codewords are divisible by some constant $\Delta>1$. So, here we study the minimum lengths of minimal codes where we additionally assume that the weights of the codewords are divisible by $\Delta$., Comment: 14 pages, 1 table

A linear code $C$ over $\mathbb{F}_q$ is called $\Delta$-divisible if the Hamming weights $\operatorname{wt}(c)$ of all codewords $c \in C$ are divisible by $\Delta$. The possible effective lengths of $q^r$-divisible codes have been completely characterized for each prime power $q$ and each non-negative integer $r$. The study of $\Delta$ divisible codes was initiated by Harold Ward. If $c$ divides $\Delta$ but is coprime to $q$, then each $\Delta$-divisible code $C$ over $\F_q$ is the $c$-fold repetition of a $\Delta/c$-divisible code. Here we determine the possible effective lengths of $p^r$-divisible codes over finite fields of characteristic $p$, where $p\in\mathbb{N}$ but $p^r$ is not a power of the field size, i.e., the missing cases., Comment: 11 pages, 1 table

A code $C \subseteq \{0, 1, 2\}^n$ of length $n$ is called trifferent if for any three distinct elements of $C$ there exists a coordinate in which they all differ. By $T(n)$ we denote the maximum cardinality of trifferent codes with length. $T(5)=10$ and $T(6)=13$ were recently determined. Here we determine $T(7)=16$, $T(8)=20$, and $T(9)=27$. For the latter case $n=9$ there also exist linear codes attaining the maximum possible cardinality $27$., Comment: 11 pages, 3 tables

We determine the minimum possible column multiplicity of even, doubly-, and triply-even codes given their length. This refines a classification result for the possible lengths of $q^r$-divisible codes over $\mathbb{F}_q$. We also give a few computational results for field sizes $q>2$. Non-existence results of divisible codes with restricted column multiplicities for a given length have applications e.g. in Galois geometry and can be used for upper bounds on the maximum cardinality of subspace codes., Comment: 26 pages, 7 tables

A vector space partition $\mathcal{P}$ of the projective space $\operatorname{PG}(v-1,q)$ is a set of subspaces in $\operatorname{PG}(v-1,q)$ which partitions the set of points. We say that a vector space partition $\mathcal{P}$ has type $(v-1)^{m_{v-1}} \dots 2^{m_2}1^{m_1}$ if precisely $m_i$ of its elements have dimension $i$, where $1\le i\le v-1$. Here we determine all possible types of vector space partitions in $\operatorname{PG}(7,2)$., Comment: 27 pages

A \emph{subcube partition} is a partition of the Boolean cube $\{0,1\}^n$ into subcubes. A subcube partition is irreducible if the only sub-partitions whose union is a subcube are singletons and the entire partition. A subcube partition is tight if it "mentions" all coordinates. We study extremal properties of tight irreducible subcube partitions: minimal size, minimal weight, maximal number of points, maximal size, and maximal minimum dimension. We also consider the existence of homogeneous tight irreducible subcube partitions, in which all subcubes have the same dimensions. We additionally study subcube partitions of $\{0,\dots,q-1\}^n$, and partitions of $\mathbb{F}_2^n$ into affine subspaces, in both cases focusing on the minimal size. Our constructions and computer experiments lead to several conjectures on the extremal values of the aforementioned properties., Comment: 39 pages

In this paper, we give a geometric construction of the three strong non-lifted $(3\mod{5})$-arcs in $\operatorname{PG}(3,5)$ of respective sizes 128, 143, and 168, and construct an infinite family of non-lifted, strong $(t\mod{q})$-arcs in $\operatorname{PG}(r,q)$ with $t=(q+1)/2$ for all $r\ge3$ and all odd prime powers $q$., Comment: 11 pages

An affine vector space partition of $\operatorname{AG}(n,q)$ is a set of proper affine subspaces that partitions the set of points. Here we determine minimum sizes and enumerate equivalence classes of affine vector space partitions for small parameters. We also give parametric constructions for arbitrary field sizes., Comment: 24 pages, accepted version

We attach two binary codes to a projective nodal surface (the strict code K and, for even degree d, the extended code K' ) to investigate the `Nodal Severi varieties F(d, n) of nodal surfaces in P^3 of degree d and with n nodes, and their incidence hierarchy, relating partial smoothings to code shortenings. Our first main result solves a question which dates back over 100 years: the irreducible components of F(4, n) are in bijection with the isomorphism classes of their extended codes K', and these are exactly all the 34 possible shortenings of the extended Kummer code K' , and a component is in the closure of another if and only if the code of the latter is a shortening of the code of the former. We extend this result classifying the irreducible components of all nodal K3 surfaces in the same way, and we fully classify their extended codes. In this classification there are some sporadic cases, obtain through projection from a node. For surfaces of degree d=5 in P^3 we determine (with one possible exception) all the possible codes K, and for several cases of K, we show the irreducibility of the corresponding open set of F(5, n), for instance we show the irreducibility of the family of Togliatti quintic surfaces. In the fourth part we show that a `Togliatti-like' description holds for surfaces of degree 6 with the maximum number of nodes= 65: they are discriminants of cubic hypersurfaces in P^6 with 31 (respectively 32) nodes, and we have an irreducible 18-dimensional family of them. For degree d=6, our main result is based on some novel auxiliary results: 1) the study of the half-even sets of nodes on sextic surfaces, 2) the investigation of discriminants of cubic hypersurfaces X, 3) the computer assisted proof that, for n = 65, both codes K, K' are uniquely determined, 4) the description of these codes, relating the geometry of the Barth sextic with the Doro-Hall graph., Comment: 210 pages. v2 minor changes to text, added ancillary files containing supporting computer code. The new version contains some correction, completes some linear algebra proofs of code classification, adds a table showing the Kummer genealogy tree of nodal quartic surfaces. Adds also new references

How many squares are spanned by $n$ points in the plane? Here we study the corresponding maximum possible number $S_{\square}(n)$ of squares and determine the exact values for all $n\le 17$. For $18\le n\le 100$ we give lower bounds for $S_{\square}(n)$. Besides that a few preliminary structural results are obtained. For the related problem of the maximum possible number of isosceles right triangles we determine the exact values for $n\le 14$ and give lower bounds for $15\le n\le 50$., Comment: 31 pages, 9 tables, 10 figures

We exhibit the hidden beauty of weighted voting and voting power by applying a generalization of the Penrose-Banzhaf index to social choice rules. Three players who have multiple votes in a committee decide between three options by plurality rule, Borda's rule, antiplurality rule, or one of the scoring rules in between. A priori influence on outcomes is quantified in terms of how players' probabilities to be pivotal for the committee decision compare to a dictator. The resulting numbers are represented in triangles that map out structurally equivalent voting weights. Their geometry and color variation reflect fundamental differences between voting rules, such as their inclusiveness and transparency., Comment: 21 pages; typos corrected

Subspace codes are the $q$-analog of binary block codes in the Hamming metric. Here the codewords are vector spaces over a finite field. They have e.g. applications in random linear network coding, distributed storage, and cryptography. In this chapter we survey known constructions and upper bounds for subspace codes., Comment: 105 pages; typos corrected and references updated

A linear code over $\mathbb{F}_q$ with the Hamming metric is called $\Delta$-divisible if the weights of all codewords are divisible by $\Delta$. They have been introduced by Harold Ward a few decades ago. Applications include subspace codes, partial spreads, vector space partitions, and distance optimal codes. The determination of the possible lengths of projective divisible codes is an interesting and comprehensive challenge., Comment: 105 pages; typos corrected and references updated

We consider integers whose squares have just three decimal digits. Examples are e.g. given by $2108436491907081488939581538^2 = 4445504440405440505004450045555054500055550554550445444$ and $10100000000010401000000000101^2 = 102010000000210100200000110221001000002101002000000010201$. The aim of this paper is to summarize the current knowledge on squares with three digits, scattered around webpages and newsgroup postings, and to add a few new insights. While we will mostly focus on the base $B=10$, several results are presented for general values of $B$. The used mathematical tools are completely elementary. However, we give complete proofs of all statements or explicitly state them as conjectures., Comment: 42 pages, 6 tables; typos corrected

Many real-world voting systems consist of voters that occur in just two different types. Indeed, each voting system with a {\lq\lq}House{\rq\rq} and a {\lq\lq}Senat{\rq\rq} is of that type. Here we present structural characterizations and explicit enumeration formulas for these so-called bipartite simple games., Comment: 13 pages

A basic problem for constant dimension codes is to determine the maximum possible size $A_q(n,d;k)$ of a set of $k$-dimensional subspaces in $\mathbb{F}_q^n$, called codewords, such that the subspace distance satisfies $d_S(U,W):=2k-2\dim(U\cap W)\ge d$ for all pairs of different codewords $U$, $W$. Constant dimension codes have applications in e.g.\ random linear network coding, cryptography, and distributed storage. Bounds for $A_q(n,d;k)$ are the topic of many recent research papers. Providing a general framework we survey many of the latest constructions and show up the potential for further improvements. As examples we give improved constructions for the cases $A_q(10,4;5)$, $A_q(11,4;4)$, $A_q(12,6;6)$, and $A_q(15,4;4)$. We also derive general upper bounds for subcodes arising in those constructions., Comment: 19 pages; typos corrected

The proof of the non-existence of Griesmer $[104, 4, 82]_5$-codes is just one of many examples where extendability results are used. In a series of papers Landjev and Rousseva have introduced the concept of $(t\operatorname{mod} q)$-arcs as a general framework for extendability results for codes and arcs. Here we complete the known partial classification of $(3 \operatorname{mod} 5)$-arcs in $\operatorname{PG}(3,5)$ and uncover two missing, rather exceptional, examples disproving a conjecture of Landjev and Rousseva. As also the original non-existence proof of Griesmer $[104, 4, 82]_5$-codes is affected, we present an extended proof to fill this gap., Comment: 33 pages, 15 tables; typos corrected

The Public Good index is a power index for simple games introduced by Holler and later axiomatized by Holler and Packel, so that some authors also speak of the Holler--Packel index. A generalization to the class of games with transferable utility was given by Holler and Li. Here we generalize the underlying ideas to games with several levels of approval in the input and output -- so-called $(j,k)$ simple games. Corresponding axiomatizations are also provided., Comment: 16 pages; typos corrected

We classify 8-divisible binary linear codes with minimum distance 24 and small length. As an application we consider the codes associated to nodal sextics with 65 ordinary double points., Comment: 53 pages

Strongly walk regular graphs (SWRGs or $s$-SWRGs) form a natural generalization of strongly regular graphs (SRGs) where paths of length~2 are replaced by paths of length~$s$. They can be constructed as coset graphs of the duals of projective three-weight codes whose weights satisfy a certain equation. We provide classifications of the feasible parameters of these codes in the binary and ternary case for medium size code lengths. For the binary case, the divisibility of the weights of these codes is investigated and several general results are shown. It is known that an $s$-SWRG has at most 4 distinct eigenvalues $k > \theta_1 > \theta_2 > \theta_3$, and that the triple $(\theta_1, \theta_2, \theta_3)$ satisfies a certain homogeneous polynomial equation of degree $s - 2$ (Van Dam, Omidi, 2013). This equation defines a plane algebraic curve; we use methods from algorithmic arithmetic geometry to show that for $s = 5$ and $s = 7$, there are only the obvious solutions, and we conjecture this to remain true for all (odd) $s \ge 9$., Comment: 42 pages

One of the main problems in random network coding is to compute good lower and upper bounds on the achievable cardinality of the so-called subspace codes in the projective space $\mathcal{P}_q(n)$ for a given minimum distance. The determination of the exact maximum cardinality is a very tough discrete optimization problem involving a huge number of symmetries. Besides some explicit constructions for \textit{good} subspace codes several of the most success full constructions involve the solution of discrete optimization subproblems itself, which mostly have not been not been solved systematically. Here we consider the multilevel a.k.a.\ Echelon--Ferrers construction and given lower and upper bounds for the achievable cardinalities. From a more general point of view, we solve maximum clique problems in weighted graphs, where the weights can be polynomials in the field size $q$., Comment: 95 pages

We classify all $q$-ary $\Delta$-divisible linear codes which are spanned by codewords of weight $\Delta$. The basic building blocks are the simplex codes, and for $q=2$ additionally the first order Reed-Muller codes and the parity check codes. This generalizes a result of Pless and Sloane, where the binary self-orthogonal codes spanned by codewords of weight $4$ have been classified, which is the case $q=2$ and $\Delta=4$ of our classification. As an application, we give an alternative proof of a theorem of Liu on binary $\Delta$-divisible codes of length $4\Delta$ in the projective case., Comment: 12 pages; typos corrected

We extend the original cylinder conjecture on point sets in affine three-dimensional space to the more general framework of divisible linear codes over $\mathbb{F}_q$ and their classification. Through a mix of linear programming, combinatorial techniques and computer enumeration, we investigate the structural properties of these codes. In this way, we can prove a reduction theorem for a generalization of the cylinder conjecture, show some instances where it does not hold and prove its validity for small values of $q$. In particular, we correct a flawed proof for the original cylinder conjecture for $q = 5$ and present the first proof for $q = 7$., Comment: 16 pages

A major concern in cloud/edge storage systems is serving a large number of users simultaneously. The service rate region is introduced recently as an important performance metric for coded distributed systems, which is defined as the set of all data access requests that can be simultaneously handled by the system. This paper studies the problem of designing a coded distributed storage system storing k files where a desired service rate region R of the system is given and the goal is 1) to determine the minimum number of storage nodes n(R) (or a lower bound on n(R)) for serving all demand vectors inside the set R and 2) to design the most storage-efficient redundancy scheme with the service rate region covering R. Towards this goal, we propose three general lower bounds for n(R). Also, for k=2, we characterize n(R), i.e., we show that the proposed lower bounds are tight via designing a novel storage-efficient redundancy scheme with n(R) storage nodes and the service rate region covering R.

Minimal codewords have applications in decoding linear codes and in cryptography. We study the maximum number of minimal codewords in binary linear codes of a given length and dimension. Improved lower and upper bounds on the maximum number are presented. We determine the exact values for the case of linear codes of dimension $k$ and length $k+2$ and for small values of the length and dimension. We also give a formula for the number of minimal codewords of linear codes of dimension $k$ and length $k+3$., Comment: 13 pages, 1 table

We show that no projective 16-divisible binary linear code of length 131 exists. This implies several improved upper bounds for constant-dimension codes, used in random linear network coding, and partial spreads., Comment: 4 pages

The remoteness from a simple game to a weighted game can be measured by the concept of the dimension or the more general Boolean dimension. It is known that both notions can be exponential in the number of voters. For complete simple games it was only recently shown that the dimension can also be exponential. Here we show that this is also the case for complete simple games with two types of voters and for the Boolean dimension of general complete simple games, which was posed as an open problem., Comment: 9 pages

Binary yes-no decisions in a legislative committee or a shareholder meeting are commonly modeled as a weighted game. However, there are noteworthy exceptions. E.g., the voting rules of the European Council according to the Treaty of Lisbon use a more complicated construction. Here we want to study the question if we lose much from a practical point of view, if we restrict ourselves to weighted games. To this end, we invoke power indices that measure the influence of a member in binary decision committees. More precisely, we compare the achievable power distributions of weighted games with those from a reasonable superset of weighted games. It turns out that the deviation is relatively small., Comment: 7 pages, 2 tables; typos corrected

Minimal codewords have applications in decoding linear codes and in cryptography. We study the number of minimal codewords in binary linear codes that arise by appending a unit matrix to the adjacency matrix of a graph., Comment: 11 pages

The application of flags to network coding has been introduced recently by Liebhold, Nebe, and Vazquez-Castro. It is a variant to random linear network coding and explicit routing solutions for given networks. Here we study lower and upper bounds for the maximum possible cardinality of a corresponding flag code with given parameters., Comment: 23 pages, 6 tables, typos corrected

Constant dimension codes are e.g. used for error correction and detection in random linear network coding, so that constructions for these codes have achieved wide attention. Here, we improve over 150 lower bounds by describing better constructions for subspace distance 4., Comment: 40 pages, 8 tables

We present algorithms for classification of linear codes over finite fields, based on canonical augmentation and on lattice point enumeration. We apply these algorithms to obtain classification results over fields with 2, 3 and 4 elements. We validate a correct implementation of the algorithms with known classification results from the literature, which we partially extend to larger ranges of parameters., Comment: 18 pages, 9 tables; this paper is a merge and extension of arXiv:1907.10363 and arXiv:1912.09357

The Shapley-Shubik index is a specialization of the Shapley value and is widely applied to evaluate the power distribution in committees drawing binary decisions. It was generalized to decisions with more than two levels of approval both in the input and the output. The corresponding games are called $(j,k)$ simple games. Here we present a new axiomatization for the Shapley-Shubik index for $(j,k)$ simple games as well as for a continuous variant, which may be considered as the limit case., Comment: 25 pages

Service rate is an important, recently introduced, performance metric associated with distributed coded storage systems. Among other interpretations, it measures the number of users that can be simultaneously served by the storage system. We introduce a geometric approach to address this problem. One of the most significant advantages of this approach over the existing approaches is that it allows one to derive bounds on the service rate of a code without explicitly knowing the list of all possible recovery sets. To illustrate the power of our geometric approach, we derive upper bounds on the service rates of the first order Reed-Muller codes and simplex codes. Then, we show how these upper bounds can be achieved. Furthermore, utilizing the proposed geometric technique, we show that given the service rate region of a code, a lower bound on the minimum distance of the code can be obtained.

In this work private information retrieval (PIR) codes are studied. In a $k$-PIR code, $s$ information bits are encoded in such a way that every information bit has $k$ mutually disjoint recovery sets. The main problem under this paradigm is to minimize the number of encoded bits given the values of $s$ and $k$, where this value is denoted by $P(s,k)$. The main focus of this work is to analyze $P(s,k)$ for a large range of parameters of $s$ and $k$. In particular, we improve upon several of the existing results on this value., Comment: 10 pages, 1 table