Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 30 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use with . The given primitive polynomial over a finite field makes have order . For a binary cyclic code, squaring a zero preserves the zero condition: for . Thus the binary cyclotomic cosets modulo an odd integer governing the four specified zeros areThe two displayed orbits are disjoint, each has size five, and together contain . Therefore specifying and already forces all four consecutive defining zeros of a cyclic code.
The minimal polynomial of an algebraic element of is . For , the orbit size shows that its algebraic minimal polynomial has degree five. The candidate vanishes there, sinceFor example, the five-bit representations of these terms are , whose sum is zero in . As is a monic polynomial of degree five and annihilates , it is precisely its algebraic minimal polynomial; no assumption that the provided polynomial list is exhaustive is necessary.
The narrow-sense primitive BCH code isBoth algebraic minimal polynomials divide each such , and they are coprime polynomials. Their product is a divisor of . Hence the generator polynomial is their product. Direct multiplication with field characteristic two givesThe designed distance is five, because vanishes at the four consecutive powers .
Here is an explicit BCH bound proof for these zeros. If a nonzero codeword had support of a vector of size , with distinct positions and nonzero coefficients , put . Evaluating at the first defining powers givesThe coefficient matrix has determinant , a nonzero Vandermonde determinant because the are distinct and nonzero. It therefore forces every , a contradiction. Thus the minimum Hamming distance is at least five.
For the matching upper bound, multiplication gives the actual codewordwhich has Hamming weight five and degree below . HenceThis proves the actual distance without needing the optional theorem. Its numerical hypothesis is also satisfied: with and the error parameter , , whereas .
Now calculate the root-evaluation syndrome for a cyclic code from the received polynomial. Reduction modulo gives , so . Substitution followed by the same reduction gives , whose five-bit representation is . ThusThe single-error test from two binary BCH syndromes identifies coordinate , since a one-bit error has syndromes . Flip that coordinate to obtainBoth defining evaluations vanish: and . More directly,so it is certainly a codeword of . It is at Hamming distance one from . Since the minimum Hamming distance is five, no other codeword can be within two errors of : such a word would be at distance at most three from , contradicting the proved distance. Thus this is the unique bounded-distance decoding under the linear code's two-error guarantee.
The decoded polynomial printed in the original PDF is incorrect. It instead adds to , giving a polynomial . Its defining evaluations areTherefore it is not a codeword, and the request to verify that it belongs to is a false premise. The field table and the printed syndromes agree with correction at ; the correction at does not. The boxed corrected polynomial resolves this source error and supplies the intended decoding and membership proof.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 3 3H Solution 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