On the number of solutions of polynomial systems (Q1266404)

The author considers a system of \(r\) polynomial equations \(F_i(x_0, x_1,\dots, x_m)= 0\) for \(1\leq i\leq r\), where \(F_i\) are linearly independent homogeneous polynomials of degree \(d\) in \(m+1\) variables in a projective space over a finite field \(F_q\) with \(q\) elements. The main purpose of the paper is to determine the maximal possible number of solutions of the system in the \(m\)-dimensional projective space \(P^m(F_q)\). In the case \(r=2\) the system consists of two equations and the following result is proved. Let \(p_m= (q^{m+1}-1)/ (q-1)\). Theorem. Let \(F_1(x_0, x_1,\dots, x_m)\) and \(F_2 (x_0, x_1,\dots, x_m)\) be homogeneous polynomials in \(m+1\) variables of degree \(d\). Suppose they are linearly independent and \(d< q-1\); then the maximal possible number of their common zeros in \(P^m(F_q)\) equals \((d-1)q^{m-1}+ p_{m-2}+ q^{m-2}\). The support \(\chi(D)\) of an \([n,k]\) code \(D\) is defined as the set of positions where not all codewords are zero. The \(r\)th generalized Hamming weight, \(d_r(C)\), of a linear code \(C\) is the minimal support size of an \(r\)-dimensional subcode of \(C\). The weight hierarchy of \(C\) is \(d_r(C)\) for \(1\leq i\leq k\). The result of the theorem above leads to the following result on \(d_2\) for a projective \(q\)-ary Reed-Muller code. Theorem. The second generalized Hamming weight \(d_2\) of a projective \(q\)-ary Reed-Muller code of order \(d< q-1\) is equal to \(p_m- (d-1) q^{m-1}- p_{m-2}- q^{m-2}\). The author also presents a conjecture giving the weight hierarchy of a projective \(q\)-ary Reed-Muller code of order \(d<q\).