Almost perfect sequences with \(\theta =2\) (Q1383576)

An almost perfect sequence is a periodic \(\pm 1\)-sequence where all the off-peak autocorrelation coefficients are as small as theoretically possible, with exactly one exception, say \(C(g)\). It is easy to see that the period \(v\) of the sequence has to be even, say \(v= 2m\), and that \(g= m\). By a result of \textit{A. Pott} and \textit{S. P. Bradley} [Existence and nonexistence of almost perfect autocorrelation sequences, IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 41, No. 1, 301-304 (1995; Zbl 0830.05011)], the subset of \(\mathbb{Z}_{2m}\) corresponding to the \(k\) (say) entires \(+1\) in the first period of an almost perfect sequence is a divisible difference set with parameters \((m,2,k,(k- m)(k- m+1), k-(m/2))\). The authors study the case \(\theta= 2\), where \(\theta:= k-m\); thus such an almost perfect sequence is equivalent to a divisible difference set in \(\mathbb{Z}_{2m}\) with parameters \((m,2,m-2, 2, (m-4)/2)\). Building on a previous paper by \textit{K. T. Arasu}, \textit{S. L. Ma} and \textit{N. J. Voss} [On a class of almost perfect sequences, J. Algebra 192, No. 2, 641-650, Art. No. JA976962 (1997; Zbl 0880.05019)], they show that these objects exist if and only if \(m\in\{8, 12, 28\}\).