On the Kernel of $\mathbb{Z}_{2^s}$-Linear Hadamard Codes

Abstract

The $\mathbb{Z}_{2^s}$-additive codes are subgroups of $\mathbb{Z}^n_{2^s}$, and can be seen as a generalization of linear codes over $\mathbb{Z}_2$ and $\mathbb{Z}_4$. A $\mathbb{Z}_{2^s}$-linear Hadamard code is a binary Hadamard code which is the Gray map image of a $\mathbb{Z}_{2^s}$-additive code. It is known that the dimension of the kernel can be used to give a complete classification of the $\mathbb{Z}_4$-linear Hadamard codes. In this paper, the kernel of $\mathbb{Z}_{2^s}$-linear Hadamard codes and its dimension are established for $s > 2$. Moreover, we prove that this invariant only provides a complete classification for some values of $t$ and $s$. The exact amount of nonequivalent such codes are given up to $t=11$ for any $s\geq 2$, by using also the rank and, in some cases, further computations.