arXiv subjects

Anna-Lena Horlemann

Publications and source records attributed to Anna-Lena Horlemann.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Neighbor Graph of Linear Complementary Dual (LCD) Codes

Linear complementary dual (LCD) codes form an important class of linear codes with applications in cryptography, classical error correction, and quantum coding theory. In this paper, we study the neighbor relation on LCD codes over finite fields and the graph induced by this relation, where two codes are adjacent whenever they intersect in codimension one. We determine the number of neighbors of an LCD code that are also LCD, and we use this result to analyze the structure of the corresponding neighbor graph. In particular, we prove its regularity over arbitrary finite fields and establish further regularity properties for its main structural subgraphs in the binary and odd-characteristic cases. These results provide a graph-theoretic framework for the study of LCD codes and reveal a strong combinatorial regularity in their neighborhood structure.

math.CO↗

arXiv2026

A Survey on Code Equivalence: The State-of-the-Art and Open Questions

In this work, we provide a comprehensive survey of the code equivalence problem and its variants. We explain the existing results, highlighting the relationships between different problem formulations, algorithmic techniques, and hardness assumptions. In addition, we systematically review known attacks, identify the parameter regimes in which they are effective, and discuss their limitations. Lastly, we outline several open problems and research directions, with the aim of clarifying the current landscape and guiding future work toward a deeper understanding of the hardness of code equivalence.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2026

Equivalence of Families of Polycyclic Codes over Finite Fields

We study the equivalence of families of polycyclic codes associated with polynomials of the form $x^n - a_{n-1}x^{n-1} - \ldots - a_1x - a_0$ over a finite field. We begin with the specific case of polycyclic codes associated with a trinomial $x^n - a_{\ell} x^{\ell} - a_0$ (for some $0< \ell <n$), which we refer to as \textit{$\ell$-trinomial codes}, after which we generalize our results to general polycyclic codes. We introduce an equivalence relation called \textit{$n$-equivalence}, which extends the known notion of $n$-equivalence for constacyclic codes \cite{Chen2014}. We compute the number of $n$-equivalence classes %, $ N_{(n,\ell)}$, for this relation and provide conditions under which two families of polycyclic (or $\ell$-trinomial) codes are equivalent. In particular, we prove that when $\gcd(n, n-\ell) = 1$, any $\ell$-trinomial code family is equivalent to a trinomial code family associated with the polynomial $x^n - x^{\ell} - 1$. Finally, we focus on $p^{\ell}$-trinomial codes of length $p^{\ell+r}$, where $p$ is the characteristic of $\mathbb{F}_q$ and $r$ an integer, and provide some examples as an application of the theory developed in this paper.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2026

The Power of Power Codes: New Classes of Easy Instances for the Linear Equivalence Problem

Given two linear codes, the Linear Equivalence Problem (LEP) asks to find (if it exists) a linear isometry between them; as a special case, we have the Permutation Equivalence Problem (PEP), in which isometries must be permutations. LEP and PEP have recently gained renewed interest as the security foundations for several post-quantum schemes, including LESS. A recent paper has introduced the use of the Schur product to solve PEP, identifying many new easy-to-solve instances. In this paper, we extend this result to LEP. In particular, we generalize the approach and rely on the more general notion of power codes. Combining it with Frobenius automorphisms and Hermitian hulls, we identify many classes of easy LEP instances. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work exploiting algebraic weaknesses for LEP. Finally we show an improved reduction to PEP whenever the coefficients of the monomial matrix are in a subgroup of the multiplicative group of the finite field.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2026

Distinguishers for Skew and Linearized Reed-Solomon Codes

Generalized Reed-Solomon (GRS) and Gabidulin codes have been proposed for various code-based cryptosystems, though most such schemes without elaborate disguising techniques have been successfully attacked. Both code classes are prominent examples of the isometric families of (generalized) skew and linearized Reed-Solomon ((G)SRS and (G)LRS) codes which are obtained as evaluation codes from skew polynomials. Both GSRS and GLRS codes share the advantage of achieving the maximum possible error-decoding radius and thus promise smaller key sizes than e.g. Classic McEliece. We investigate whether these generalizations can avoid the known structural attacks on GRS and Gabidulin codes. In particular, we prove that both GSRS and GLRS codes decompose into GRS subcodes and are thus efficiently distinguishable from random codes with a square code method. This applies to all parameters for which the code length $n$ and its dimension $k$ over the field $\mathbb{F}_{q^m}$ satisfy $m + 1 < k < n - \tfrac{1}{2} (m^2 + 3m)$. The distinguishability extends to GSRS and GLRS codes with Hamming-isometric disguising. We further relate these findings to existing distinguishers for GRS, Gabidulin, and LRS codes, and extend known results on duals of SRS and LRS codes to the generalized setting allowing nonzero column multipliers. Finally, we provide explicit transformations between GSRS and GLRS codes, clarifying the algebraic relationship between the skew and linearized frameworks.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2025

Bounds and Equivalence of Skew Polycyclic Codes over Finite Fields

We study skew polycyclic codes over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$, associated with a skew polynomial $f(x) \in \mathbb{F}_q[x;σ]$, where $σ$ is an automorphism of $\mathbb{F}_q$. We start by proving the Roos-like bound for both the Hamming and the rank metric for this class of codes. Next, we focus on the Hamming and rank equivalence between two classes of polycyclic codes by introducing an equivalence relation and describing its equivalence classes. Finally, we present examples that illustrate applications of the theory developed in this paper.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2025

$q$-ary Sequential Locally Recoverable Codes from the Product Construction

This work focuses on sequential locally recoverable codes (SLRCs), a special family of locally repairable codes, capable of correcting multiple code symbol erasures, which are commonly used for distributed storage systems. First, we construct an extended $q$-ary family of non-binary SLRCs using code products with a novel maximum number of recoverable erasures $t$ and a minimal repair alternativity $A$. Second, we study how MDS and BCH codes can be used to construct $q$-ary SLRCs. Finally, we compare our codes to other LRCs.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2025

Dihedral Quantum Codes

We establish dihedral quantum codes of short block length, a class of CSS codes obtained by the lifted product construction. We present the code construction and give a formula for the code dimension, depending on the two classical codes that the CSS code is based on. We also give a lower bound on the code distance and construct an example of short dihedral quantum codes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Lattice-Based Vulnerabilities in Lee Metric Post-Quantum Cryptosystems

Post-quantum cryptography has gained attention due to the need for secure cryptographic systems in the face of quantum computing. Code-based and lattice-based cryptography are two prominent approaches, both heavily studied within the NIST standardization project. Code-based cryptography -- most prominently exemplified by the McEliece cryptosystem -- is based on the hardness of decoding random linear error-correcting codes. Despite the McEliece cryptosystem having been unbroken for several decades, it suffers from large key sizes, which has led to exploring variants using metrics than the Hamming metric, such as the Lee metric. This alternative metric may allow for smaller key sizes, but requires further analysis for potential vulnerabilities to lattice-based attack techniques. In this paper, we consider a generic Lee metric based McEliece type cryptosystem and evaluate its security against lattice-based attacks.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2024

The Subfield Metric and its Application to Quantum Error Correction

We introduce a new weight and corresponding metric over finite extension fields for asymmetric error correction. The weight distinguishes between elements from the base field and the ones outside of it, which is motivated by asymmetric quantum codes. We set up the theoretic framework for this weight and metric, including upper and lower bounds, asymptotic behavior of random codes, and we show the existence of an optimal family of codes achieving the Singleton-type upper bound.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2023

Densities of Codes of Various Linearity Degrees in Translation-Invariant Metric Spaces

We investigate the asymptotic density of error-correcting codes with good distance properties and prescribed linearity degree, including sublinear and nonlinear codes. We focus on the general setting of finite translation-invariant metric spaces, and then specialize our results to the Hamming metric, to the rank metric, and to the sum-rank metric. Our results show that the asymptotic density of codes heavily depends on the imposed linearity degree and the chosen metric.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2023

On the Number of $t$-Lee-Error-Correcting Codes

We consider $t$-Lee-error-correcting codes of length $n$ over the residue ring $\mathbb{Z}_m := \mathbb{Z}/m\mathbb{Z}$ and determine upper and lower bounds on the number of $t$-Lee-error-correcting codes. We use two different methods, namely estimating isolated nodes on bipartite graphs and the graph container method. The former gives density results for codes of fixed size and the latter for any size. This confirms some recent density results for linear Lee metric codes and provides new density results for nonlinear codes. To apply a variant of the graph container algorithm we also investigate some geometrical properties of the balls in the Lee metric.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2023

Distinguishing and Recovering Generalized Linearized Reed-Solomon Codes

We study the distinguishability of linearized Reed-Solomon (LRS) codes by defining and analyzing analogs of the square-code and the Overbeck distinguisher for classical Reed-Solomon and Gabidulin codes, respectively. Our main results show that the square-code distinguisher works for generalized linearized Reed-Solomon (GLRS) codes defined with the trivial automorphism, whereas the Overbeck-type distinguisher can handle LRS codes in the general setting. We further show how to recover defining code parameters from any generator matrix of such codes in the zero-derivation case. For other choices of automorphisms and derivations simulations indicate that these distinguishers and recovery algorithms do not work. The corresponding LRS and GLRS codes might hence be of interest for code-based cryptography.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2022

On the Density of Codes over Finite Chain Rings

We determine the asymptotic proportion of free modules over finite chain rings with good distance properties and treat the asymptotics in the code length n and the residue field size q separately. We then specialize and apply our technique to rank metric codes and to Hamming metric codes.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2022

Galois Hull Dimensions of Gabidulin Codes

For a prime power $q$, an integer $m$ and $0\leq e\leq m-1$ we study the $e$-Galois hull dimension of Gabidulin codes $G_k(\boldsymbolα)$ of length $m$ and dimension $k$ over $\mathbb{F}_{q^m}$. Using a self-dual basis $\boldsymbolα$ of $\mathbb{F}_{q^m}$ over $\mathbb{F}_q$, we first explicitly compute the hull dimension of $G_k(\boldsymbolα)$. Then a necessary and sufficient condition of $G_k(\boldsymbolα)$ to be linear complementary dual (LCD), self-orthogonal and self-dual will be provided. We prove the existence of $e$-Galois (where $e=\frac{m}{2}$) self-dual Gabidulin codes of length $m$ for even $q$, which is in contrast to the known fact that Euclidean self-dual Gabidulin codes do not exist for even $q$. As an application, we construct two classes of entangled-assisted quantum error-correcting codes (EAQECCs) whose parameters have more flexibility compared to known codes in this context.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2022

On the Hardness of the Lee Syndrome Decoding Problem

In this paper we study the hardness of the syndrome decoding problem over finite rings endowed with the Lee metric. We first prove that the decisional version of the problem is NP-complete, by a reduction from the $3$-dimensional matching problem. Then, we study the complexity of solving the problem, by translating the best known solvers in the Hamming metric over finite fields to the Lee metric over finite rings, as well as proposing some novel solutions. For the analyzed algorithms, we assess the computational complexity in the asymptotic regime and compare it to the corresponding algorithms in the Hamming metric.

cs.IT↗

arXiv2022

Density of Free Modules over Finite Chain Rings

In this paper we focus on modules over a finite chain ring $\mathcal{R}$ of size $q^s$. We compute the density of free modules of $\mathcal{R}^n$, where we separately treat the asymptotics in $n,q$ and $s$. In particular, we focus on two cases: one where we fix the length of the module and one where we fix the rank of the module. In both cases, the density results can be bounded by the Andrews-Gordon identities. We also study the asymptotic behaviour of modules generated by random matrices over $\mathcal{R}$. Since linear codes over $\mathcal{R}$ are submodules of $\mathcal{R}^n$ we get direct implications for coding theory. For example, we show that random codes achieve the Gilbert-Varshamov bound with high probability.

cs.IT↗