Rank and classification of $\mathbb{Z}_2\mathbb{Z}_4\mathbb{Z}_8$-linear Hadamard codes

Abstract

The $\mathbb{Z}_2\mathbb{Z}_4\mathbb{Z}_8$-additive codes are subgroups of $\mathbb{Z}_2^{\alpha_1}\times\mathbb{Z}_4^{\alpha_2}\times\mathbb{Z}_8^{\alpha_3}$. A $\mathbb{Z}_2\mathbb{Z}_4\mathbb{Z}_8$-linear Hadamard code is a Hadamard code which is the Gray map image of such a code. A recursive construction of $\mathbb{Z}_2\mathbb{Z}_4\mathbb{Z}_8$-additive Hadamard codes $\mathcal H^{t_1,t_2,t_3}$, with all $\alpha_i\neq0$, $t_1\geq1$, $t_2\geq0$, and $t_3\geq1$, is known, as are the linearity and kernel of the corresponding codes $H^{t_1,t_2,t_3}$ of length $2^t$. Their rank, however, was not known in closed form. In this paper, we determine $rank(H^{t_1,t_2,t_3})$ for every admissible triple and obtain an explicit closed formula. The proof computes the dimension of the space spanned by the binary coordinate functions of the code, viewed as Boolean functions of the binary digits of the message. We then use the rank formula, together with the known kernel dimension, to classify the family as far as these two invariants allow. The only pairs of distinct types of the same length sharing both invariants are $\bigl(H^{1,2,t-6},H^{2,0,t-5}\bigr)$ for $t\geq7$ and $\bigl(H^{2,2,t-9},H^{3,0,t-8}\bigr)$ for $t\geq10$. Consequently, the number of distinct pairs $(r,k)$ among the codes of length $2^t$ is $\lfloor(t^2+6)/12\rfloor$ for $3\leq t\leq6$, $\lfloor(t^2+6)/12\rfloor-1$ for $7\leq t\leq9$, and $\lfloor(t^2+6)/12\rfloor-2$ for $t\geq10$. Thus, rank and kernel dimension classify the family completely if and only if $3\leq t\leq6$. We also determine all coincidences with the $\mathbb{Z}_4$-, $\mathbb{Z}_2\mathbb{Z}_4$-, and $\mathbb{Z}_8$-linear Hadamard codes of the same length: there is exactly one infinite family with the first two, namely $H^{2,1,t-7}$ and $H^{5,t-9}$ for $t\geq10$, and exactly five families with the $\mathbb{Z}_8$-linear codes.