Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/ii/paper-1/10g/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 1 10G i Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
A linear code of length and rank is a -dimensional linear subspace of . The Hamming weight of a vector counts its nonzero coordinates. Thus the sum of the coefficients of the weight enumerator is the number of codewords:Since the zero vector is the unique word of weight zero, . Symmetry of the enumerator therefore implies . Conversely means that the all-one vector belongs to . Translation is then a bijection of which replaces weight by , proving the polynomial symmetry. For length zero the same conclusion holds with the unique empty vector.
The dual code is , using the standard bilinear form over . If , each summand of the character sum equals one. Otherwise choose with ; replacing by permutes the summands and reverses their sign. The sum equals its own negative and must be zero. ConsequentlyThis is character orthogonality for the additive group of the code.
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