A remark on symplectic semifield planes and \(\mathbb Z_4\)-linear codes (Q2391666)

Let \(F\) be the field of \(q^{m}\) elements with \(q\) even and \(m\) odd. With \(K\) the field of \(q\) elements, \(n>1\), let there be given a strictly increasing chain of subfields \(K\subseteq F_{n}\subset \dots \subset F_{1}\subset F_{0}=F\). Write \(T_{i}:F\to F_{i}\) for the respective trace maps, and choose non-zero elements \(\xi_{i}\in F\) for all \(i=1,\dots,n\). Put \[ x\ast y=xy^{2}+\sum_{i=1}^{n}\bigl(T_{i}(\xi_{i}x)y + \xi_{i}T_i (xy)\bigr) \] The resulting presemifields \((F,+,\ast)\) have been studied in [\textit{W. M. Kantor} and \textit{M. E. Williams}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 356, No. 3, 895--938 (2004; Zbl 1038.51003)]. The authors prove: If \(q^{m}>8\) then the left nucleus of each semifield isotopic to \((F,+,\ast)\) is isomorphic to \(F_{n}\). This way they remove a restriction imposed on \(F_{1}\) in the original paper [loc. cit.]. Some implications are discussed.