Minimum distance of orthogonal line-Grassmann codes in even characteristic (Q1748391)

In this paper, the authors determine the minimum weight of the orthogonal line-Grassmann codes for \(q\) even. Let \(\mathcal G_k\) denote the Grassmannian of \(k\)-dimensional subspaces in \(\mathrm V(2n+1,q)\). The Plücker embedding of the Grassmannian gives a projective system (a set of points) in \(\mathrm{PG}(\Lambda^k \mathrm V)\) which is then used to define the Grassmann code. When we restrict the domain of the Plücker embedding to the orthogonal Grassmannian and put \(k=2\) in order to consider the line Grassmannian, its image is precisely the projective system which defines the orthogonal line-Grassmann codes. The minimum distance of a code defined by a projective system \(S\) equals its minimum weight, which can be found by looking at maximum number of points \(S\) shares with a hyperplane. This is essentially the approach taken in this paper to find the minimum weight, but many intricate arguments are needed. Furthermore, the authors also classify the codewords of smallest weight and find the second smallest weight. The minimum distance coincides with that for odd \(q\) found in [\textit{I. Cardinali} et al., J. Pure Appl. Algebra 220, No. 5, 1924--1934 (2016; Zbl 1357.51002)]. The main theorem is the following: For \(q\) even, the minimum distance of the line orthogonal Grassmann code is equal to \[ d_{\min}=q^{4n-5}-q^{3n-4} \] and all codewords of minimum weight or projectively equivalent. The second smallest distance for \(n\neq 3\) is \(q^{4n-5}-q^{2n-3}\). The authors conjecture that the latter statement also holds for \(n=3\), that is, that the second smallest weight of the line orthogonal Grassmann code for \(n=3\) is \(q^{7}-q^{3}\).