On the hull-variation problem of equivalent vector rank metric codes

Abstract

The intersection of a linear code with its dual is called the hull of the code. It is known that, for classical linear codes under the Hamming-metric, the dimension of the hull can be reduced up to equivalence. This phenomenon leads to the so-called hull-variation problem formulated by Hao Chen in 2023. In this paper, we consider the analogous problem for vector rank-metric codes, along with their associated matrix codes and extended block codes. Our results include the fact that every vector rank-metric code over any finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$, in particular when $q=2$ or $q=3$, is equivalent to an LCD code.