Shadow lattices and shadow codes (Q1567660)

Shadow codes of self-dual codes have been used to derive upper bounds on the minimum distance of these codes, and to construct self-dual codes of larger lengths. Shadows of unimodular lattices have been used to derive upper bounds on the minimum norm of Type I lattices. This paper considers the construction of higher dimensional unimodular lattices from shadows of Type I lattices. Shadow-optimal lattices are introduced as a class of optimal Type I lattices. The theta series of these lattices are investigated. An analogy between self-dual codes over the ring \(\mathbb{Z}_{2k}\) of integers and unimodular lattices is presented. Shadow codes for Type I codes over \(\mathbb{Z}_{2k}\) are studied by considering shadow lattices.