Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / ii / Paper 3 / 3G / Solution

Identify a binary word with its coefficient polynomial in $R={\mathbb{F}}_2[X]/(X^7-1)$. A cyclic code is exactly an ideal of $R$: closure under multiplication by $X$ is closure under cyclic shift. Its inverse image in the principal ideal domain ${\mathbb{F}}_2[X]$ has a unique monic generator polynomial of a cyclic code $g$ dividing $X^7-1$. PutThe cubics have no root in ${\mathbb{F}}_2$, hence are irreducible polynomials. The eight monic divisors yield all binary cyclic codes of length seven. A code generated by $g$ has basis $g,Xg,\dots ,X^{6-\mathrm{deg}g}g$ and dimension $7-\mathrm{deg}g$, with the zero code treated separately.

For the dual of a cyclic code, let $h=(X^7-1)/g$. Orthogonality of coefficient vectors to all cyclic shifts gives the generator $h^{\ast }(X)=X^{\mathrm{deg}h}h(X^{-1})$. Here $a^{\ast }=a,b^{\ast }=c,c^{\ast }=b$. Thus the complete pairing, with the respective dimensions, isThese are respectively the whole-space/zero, even-weight/repetition, and two Hamming code/binary simplex code pairs. The reciprocal formula follows because the product of a word polynomial and the reversed polynomial of an orthogonal word has zero coefficients in all cyclic positions; the resulting inclusion has the correct complementary dimension, hence is equality.