The invariants of the Clifford groups (Q5947349)

The authors conduct an indepth study of real Clifford groups and their complex analogues. The real Clifford group \(C_m\), \(m\in {\mathbb N},\) is defined as the normalizer in \(O(2^m, {\mathbb R})\) of the extraspecial 2-group \(E(m)\cong 2^{1+2m}_+\), whereas the complex Clifford group \({\mathcal X}_m\) is the normalizer in \(U(2^m, {\mathbb Q}[\zeta_8])\) of the central product \(E(m){\ast}Z_4\). These groups have been successfully used, for example, in constructing orthogonal spreads and Kerdock sets [\textit{A. Calderbank}, \textit{P. Cameron}, \textit{W. Kantor}, and \textit{J. Seidel}, Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. (3) 75, 436-480 (1997; Zbl 0916.94014)] as well as quantum error-correcting codes [see e.g. \textit{A. Calderbank}, \textit{E. Rains}, \textit{P. Shor}, and \textit{N. Sloane}, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 405-408 (1997; Zbl 1005.94541); IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 44, 1369-1387 (1998; Zbl 0982.94029); and \textit{A. Kitaev}, Russ. Math. Surv. 52, 1191-1249 (1997; Zbl 0917.68063)] and optimal packings in Grassmannian spaces [see e.g. \textit{A. Calderbank, R. Hardin, E. Rains, P. Shor}, and \textit{N. Sloane}, J. Algebr. Comb. 9, 129-140 (1999; Zbl 0941.51033)]. For a binary linear code \(C\leq {\mathbb F}_2^N\) of length \(N\) and \(m\in {\mathbb N}\), let \(C(m):=C\otimes_{{\mathbb F}_2} \mathbb F_{2^m}\) be the extension of \(C\) to a code over a field with \(2^m\) elements. The authors give definitions for the full weight enumerator and the complete weight enumerator, and they show that when \(C\) is self-dual, the Clifford group preserves each of these enumerators. A simpler proof of a previous result of \textit{B. Runge} [Discrete Math. 148, 175-204 (1996; Zbl 0854.11071)], which basically says that the complete weight enumerators of the codes \(C(m)\) generate the space of invariants for \(C_m\), is also given. After an improvement of a result of \textit{V. Sidelnikov} [J. Algebr. Comb. 10, 279-288 (1999; Zbl 0938.05021)] concerning the harmonic invariants of \(C_m\), the authors conclude their discussion on real Clifford groups by examining their relationship with the Barnes-Wall lattices. The remainder of the paper considers some analogues for the complex Clifford groups and Clifford groups for odd primes.