The aim of this paper is to survey on the known results on maximum scattered linear sets and MRD-codes. In particular, we investigate the link between these two areas. In "A new family of linear maximum rank distance codes" (2016) Sheekey showed how maximum scattered linear sets of $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^n)$ define square MRD-codes. Later in "Maximum scattered linear sets and MRD-codes" (2017) maximum scattered linear sets in $\mathrm{PG}(r-1,q^n)$, $r>2$, were used to construct non square MRD-codes. Here, we point out a new relation regarding the other direction. We also provide an alternative proof of the well-known Blokhuis-Lavrauw's bound for the rank of maximum scattered linear sets shown in "Scattered spaces with respect to a spread in $\mathrm{PG}(n,q)$" (2000).
The concept of scattered polynomials is generalized to those of exceptional scattered sequences which are shown to be the natural algebraic counterpart of $\mathbb{F}_{q^n}$-linear MRD codes. The first infinite family in the first nontrivial case is also provided and equivalence issues are considered. As a byproduct, a new infinite family of MRD codes is obtained.
After a seminal paper by Shekeey (2016), a connection between maximum $h$-scattered $\mathbb{F}_q$-subspaces of $V(r,q^n)$ and maximum rank distance (MRD) codes has been established in the extremal cases $h=1$ and $h=r-1$. In this paper, we propose a connection for any $h\in\{1,\ldots,r-1\}$, extending and unifying all the previously known ones. As a consequence, we obtain examples of non-square MRD codes which are not equivalent to generalized Gabidulin or twisted Gabidulin codes. Up to equivalence, we classify MRD codes having the same parameters as the ones in our connection. Also, we deter…
We revisit and extend the connections between $\mathbb{F}_{q^m}$-linear rank-metric codes and evasive $\mathbb{F}_q$-subspaces of $\mathbb{F}_{q^m}^k$. We give a unifying framework in which we prove in an elementary way how the parameters of a rank-metric code are related to special geometric properties of the associated evasive subspace, with a particular focus on the generalized rank weights. In this way, we can also provide alternative and very short proofs of known results on scattered subspaces. We then use this simplified point of view in order to get a geometric characterization of near…
In [10], the existence of $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear MRD-codes of $\mathbb{F}_q^{6\times 6}$, with dimension $12$, minimum distance $5$ and left idealiser isomorphic to $\mathbb{F}_{q^6}$, defined by a trinomial of $\mathbb{F}_{q^6}[x]$, when $q$ is odd and $q\equiv 0,\pm 1\pmod 5$, has been proved. In this paper we show that this family produces $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear MRD-codes of $\mathbb{F}_q^{6\times 6}$, with the same properties, also in the remaining $q$ odd cases, but not in the $q$ even case. These MRD-codes are not equivalent to the previously known MRD-codes. We also prove that the corresp…
The rank of a scattered $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear set of $\mathrm{PG}(r-1,q^n)$, $rn$ even, is at most $rn/2$ as it was proved by Blokhuis and Lavrauw. Existence results and explicit constructions were given for infinitely many values of $r$, $n$, $q$ ($rn$ even) for scattered $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear sets of rank $rn/2$. In this paper we prove that the bound $rn/2$ is sharp also in the remaining open cases. Recently Sheekey proved that scattered $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear sets of $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^n)$ of maximum rank $n$ yield $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear MRD-codes with dimension $2n$ and minimum distance $n-1$.…
A class of scattered linearized polynomials covering infinitely many field extensions is exhibited. More precisely, the $q$-polynomial over $\mathbb F_{q^6}$, $q \equiv 1\pmod 4$ described in arXiv:1906.05611, arXiv:1910.02278 is generalized for any even $n\ge6$ to an $\mathbb F_q$-linear automorphism $ψ(x)$ of $\mathbb F_q^n$ of order $n$. Such $ψ(x)$ and some functional powers of it are proved to be scattered. In particular this provides new maximum scattered linear sets of the projective line $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^n)$ for $n=8,10$. The polynomials described in this paper lead to a new infinite f…
We introduce a family of linear sets of $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^{2n})$ arising from maximum scattered linear sets of pseudoregulus type of $\mathrm{PG}(3,q^{n})$. For $n=3,4$ and for certain values of the parameters we show that these linear sets of $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^{2n})$ are maximum scattered and they yield new MRD-codes with parameters $(6,6,q;5)$ for $q>2$ and with parameters $(8,8,q;7)$ for $q$ odd.
The concept of linear set in projective spaces over finite fields was introduced by Lunardon in 1999 and it plays central roles in the study of blocking sets, semifields, rank-distance codes and etc. A linear set with the largest possible cardinality and rank is called maximum scattered. Despite two decades of study, there are only a limited number of maximum scattered linear sets of a line $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^n)$. In this paper, we provide a large family of new maximum scattered linear sets over $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^n)$ for any even $n\geq 6$ and odd $q$. In particular, the relevant family contains …
Scattered polynomials of a given index over finite fields are intriguing rare objects with many connections within mathematics. Of particular interest are the exceptional ones, as defined in 2018 by the first author and Zhou, for which partial classification results are known. In this paper we propose a unified algebraic description of $\mathbb{F}_{q^n}$-linear maximum rank distance codes, introducing the notion of exceptional linear maximum rank distance codes of a given index. Such a connection naturally extends the notion of exceptionality for a scattered polynomial in the rank metric frame…
Minimal rank-metric codes or, equivalently, linear cutting blocking sets are characterized in terms of the second generalized rank weight, via their connection with evasiveness properties of the associated $q$-system. Using this result, we provide the first construction of a family of $\mathbb{F}_{q^m}$-linear MRD codes of length $2m$ that are not obtained as a direct sum of two smaller MRD codes. In addition, such a family has better parameters, since its codes possess generalized rank weights strictly larger than those of the previously known MRD codes. This shows that not all the MRD codes …
We generalize the example of linear set presented by the last two authors in "Vertex properties of maximum scattered linear sets of $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^n)$" (2019) to a more general family, proving that such linear sets are maximum scattered when $q$ is odd and, apart from a special case, they are are new. This solves an open problem posed in "Vertex properties of maximum scattered linear sets of $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^n)$" (2019). As a consequence of Sheekey's results in "A new family of linear maximum rank distance codes" (2016), this family yields to new MRD-codes with parameters $(6,6,q;5)$.
This preprint is of a chapter to appear in {\it Combinatorics and finite fields: Difference sets, polynomials, pseudorandomness and applications. Radon Series on Computational and Applied Mathematics}, K.-U. Schmidt and A. Winterhof (eds.). Rank-metric codes are codes consisting of matrices with entries in a finite field, with the distance between two matrices being the rank of their difference. Codes with maximum size for a fixed minimum distance are called Maximum Rank Distance (MRD) codes. Such codes were constructed and studied independently by Delsarte (1978), Gabidulin (1985), Roth (1991…
In [A. Neri, P. Santonastaso, F. Zullo. Extending two families of maximum rank distance codes], the authors extended the family of $2$-dimensional $\mathbb{F}_{q^{2t}}$-linear MRD codes recently found in [G. Longobardi, G. Marino, R. Trombetti, Y. Zhou. A large family of maximum scattered linear sets of $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^n)$ and their associated MRD codes]. Also, for $t \geq 5$ they determined equivalence classes of the elements in this new family and provided the exact number of inequivalent codes in it. In this article, we complete the study of the equivalence issue removing the restriction $…
Scattered polynomials over finite fields attracted an increasing attention in the last years. One of the reasons is their deep connection with Maximum Rank Distance (MRD) codes. Known classification results for exceptional scattered polynomials, i.e. polynomials which are scattered over infinite field extensions, are limited to the cases where their index $\ell$ is small, or a prime number larger than the $q$-degree $k$ of the polynomial, or an integer smaller than the $k$ in the case where $k$ is a prime. In this paper we completely classify exceptional scattered polynomials when the maximum …
We investigate two fundamental questions intersecting coding theory and combinatorial geometry, with emphasis on their connections. These are the problem of computing the asymptotic density of MRD codes in the rank metric, and the Critical Problem for combinatorial geometries by Crapo and Rota. Using methods from semifield theory, we derive two lower bounds for the density function of full-rank, square MRD codes. The first bound is sharp when the matrix size is a prime number and the underlying field is sufficiently large, while the second bound applies to the binary field. We then take a new …
In [2] and [19] are presented the first two families of maximum scattered $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear sets of the projective line $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^n)$. More recently in [23] and in [5], new examples of maximum scattered $\mathbb{F}_q$-subspaces of $V(2,q^n)$ have been constructed, but the equivalence problem of the corresponding linear sets is left open. Here we show that the $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear sets presented in [23] and in [5], for $n=6,8$, are new. Also, for $q$ odd, $q\equiv \pm 1,\,0 \pmod 5$, we present new examples of maximum scattered $\mathbb{F}_q$-linear sets in $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^6)$, ari…
Maximum scattered subspaces are not only objects of intrinsic interest in finite geometry but also powerful tools for the construction of MRD-codes, projective two-weight codes, and strongly regular graphs. In 2018 Csajbók, Marino, Polverino, and Zanella introduced a new family of maximum scattered subspaces in $\mathbb{F}_{q^6} \times \mathbb{F}_{q^6}$ arising from polynomials of type $f_b(x)=bx^q+x^{q^4}$ for certain choices of $b \in \mathbb{F}_{q^6}$. Throughout characterizations for $f_{b_2}(x)$ and $f_{b_1}(x)$ giving rise to equivalent maximum scattered subspaces, the authors conjecture…
In this paper we investigate the geometric properties of the configuration consisting of a $k$-subspace $Γ$ and a canonical subgeometry $Σ$ in $\mathrm{PG}(n-1,q^n)$, with $Γ\capΣ=\emptyset$. The idea motivating is that such properties are reflected in the algebraic structure of the linear set which is projection of $Σ$ from the vertex $Γ$. In particular we deal with the maximum scattered linear sets of the line $\mathrm{PG}(1,q^n)$ found by Lunardon and Polverino and recently generalized by Sheekey. Our aim is to characterize this family by means of the properties of the vertex of the project…
A convex geometry is a closure space satisfying the anti-exchange axiom. For several types of algebraic convex geometries we describe when the collection of closed sets is order scattered, in terms of obstructions to the semilattice of compact elements. In particular, a semilattice $Ω(η)$, that does not appear among minimal obstructions to order-scattered algebraic modular lattices, plays a prominent role in convex geometries case. The connection to topological scatteredness is established in convex geometries of relatively convex sets.
Maximum 2-scattered subspaces of $V(r,q^6)$ for every $r\geq 3$
Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica “Ulisse Dini”, Università degli Studi di Firenze（佛罗伦萨大学）；Dipartimento di Matematica e Applicazioni “R. Caccioppoli”, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II（那不勒斯费德里科二世大学）
A linearized polynomial $f(x)\in\mathbb F_{q^n}[x]$ is called scattered if for any $y,z\in\mathbb F_{q^n}$, the condition $zf(y)-yf(z)=0$ implies that $y$ and $z$ are $\mathbb F_{q}$-linearly dependent. In this paper two generalizations of the notion of a scattered linearized polynomial are defined and investigated. Let $t$ be a nontrivial positive divisor of $n$. By weakening the property defining a scattered linearized polynomial, L-$q^t$-partially scattered and R-$q^t$-partially scattered linearized polynomials are introduced in such a way that the scattered linearized polynomials are preci…
On the existence of linear rank-metric intersecting codes
Université Paris 8, Laboratoire de Géométrie, Analyse et Applications, LAGA, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, CNRS（巴黎第八大学，几何、分析与应用实验室，LAGA，索邦巴黎北大学，法国国家科学研究中心）；Inria Saclay（萨克雷英ria研究院）；Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”（坎帕尼亚“路易吉·万维塔利”大学数学与物理系）
This work investigates the structure of rank-metric codes in connection with concepts from finite geometry, most notably the $q$-analogues of projective systems and blocking sets. We also illustrate how to associate a classical Hamming-metric code to a rank-metric one, in such a way that various rank-metric properties naturally translate into the homonymous Hamming-metric notions under this correspondence. The most interesting applications of our results lie in the theory of minimal rank-metric codes, which we introduce and study from several angles. Our main contributions are bounds for the p…
