On trace codes and Galois invariance over finite commutative chain rings (Q2444983)

Let \(\mathbb{F}_{q^e}\) be a finite field with \(q^e\) elements and consider a linear code \(\mathcal{C}\) over \(\mathbb{F}_{q^m}\) of length \(n\). The subfield code \(\mathrm{Res}_{\mathbb{F}_q}(\mathcal{C})\) is defined as the \(\mathbb{F}_q\)-linear code \(\mathcal{C}\cap \mathbb{F}_q^n\), while the trace code of \(\mathcal{C}\) is \[ \mathrm{Tr}_{\mathbb{F}_{q^e}|\mathbb{F}_q}(\mathcal{C})=\left\{(\mathrm{Tr}_{\mathbb{F}_{q^e}|\mathbb{F}_q}(c_1),\ldots,\mathrm{Tr}_{\mathbb{F}_{q^e}|\mathbb{F}_q}(c_n))| (c_1,\ldots,c_n) \in \mathcal{C}\right\}. \] It has been proven [\textit{M. Giorgetti} and \textit{A. Previtali}, Finite Fields Appl. 16, No. 2, 96--99 (2010; Zbl 1191.94130)] that \(\mathrm{Res}_{\mathbb{F}_q}(\mathcal{C})\subset \mathrm{Tr}_{\mathbb{F}_{q^e}|\mathbb{F}_q}(\mathcal{C})\) and that equality holds if and only if \(\mathcal{C}\) is Galois invariant, that is \(\mathcal{C}^\gamma=\mathcal{C}\) for each \(\gamma \in \mathrm{Gal}(\mathbb{F}_{q^e}|\mathbb{F}_q)\). A commutative ring \(R\) is called \textit{chain ring} if the lattice of all its ideals is a chain. Given two finite commutative chain rings \(R\) and \(S\) with \(R\subset S\) and \(1_R=1_S\), \(S\) is called an \textit{extension} of \(R\). If \(M_R\) and \(M_S\) are the maximal ideals of \(R\) and \(S\), the extension \(S|R\) is called \textit{separable} if \(M_RS=M_S\). Also, the group \(G\) of all the automorphisms \(\gamma\) of \(S\) such that \(\gamma|R\) is the identity is called the \textit{Galois group} of the extension \(S|R\). The main result of the paper is the following. { Theorem.} For any separable extension \(S|R\) of finite commutative chain rings and for any \(S\)-linear code \(\mathcal{C}\), \[ \mathrm{Res}(\mathcal{C})= \mathrm{Tr}(\mathcal{C}) \] if and only if \(\mathcal{C}\) is invariant under the Galois group of \(S|R\).