A Family of Gauss Type Hadamard Difference Sets

Abstract

A Hadamard difference set (HDS) $D$ of order $u^2$ in an abelian group $G$ satisfies $|\chi(D)|=u$ for every nontrivial character $\chi$ of $G$. We call such a character value naive if it is divisible by $u$, i.e., if it is equal to $u$ times a root of unity. All previously known abelian HDSs only have naive character values. We show that for $d\ge 1$ and $u=3d$, a group $Z_3^2\times H$, with $H$ an abelian group of order $2^{2d+2}$, contains a HDS of order $u^2$ with non-naive character values if and only if $8\le\exp H\le 2^{d+2}$. All difference sets obtained are new. The proof rests on a specific HDS in $Z_3^2\times Z_8\times Z_2$, a covering extended building set on $Z_3^2\times Z_8\times Z_4$, and a variation of the Davis-Jedwab recursive construction.