A sequence of unique quaternary Griesmer codes (Q1876079)

The author considers the problem of determining the exact value of \(n_q(k,d)\), defined as the smallest \(n\) such that there exists a linear \([n,k,d]_q\) code. He settles one instance of this problem, namely the one with \(k=5\), \(q=4\), \(d=72\). The dimension \(k=5\) is the smallest dimension for quaternary codes for which the exact values of \(n_q(k,d)\) are not known for all \(d\). In order to determine the exact value of \(n_4(5,72)\), the author rules out the existence of \([98,5,72]_4\) codes. Such a code would be divisible with all weights multiples of 4. The proof of the nonexistence uses the uniqueness of the codes with parameters \([n,4,n-5]_4\) for \(14\leq n\leq17\). The latter result seems to be new for \(n=14\). An additional argument rules out the existence of \([97,5,71]_4\) codes as well.