Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/ii/paper-3/3h/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 3 3H Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The relation makes this a length-seven binary cyclic code. Since , the generator polynomial of a cyclic code givesThe polynomial itself is a codeword of Hamming weight three, so the minimum distance is at most three. A nonzero word of weight one cannot vanish at the nonzero element . If a weight-two word vanished there, then ; because has order seven and , this forces . Hence there are no nonzero words of weight below three, and
The equation gives in the finite field , and thereforeBy the root-evaluation syndrome for a cyclic code, this is the syndrome of the single error . Since , minimum-distance decoding uniquely corrects one error. Subtracting and adding agree over , so the decoded codeword is
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