No label defined (Q3129752)

Let \(F_q\) be the finite field of \(q\) elements. A code \(C\) is a subset of the vector space \(F^n_q\). If \(C\) is a vector space itself, it is called a linear code. A linear \([n,k,d]\) code \(C\) over \(F_q\) is a \(k\)-dimensional subspace of the \(n\)-dimensional vector space \(F^n_q\). The minimum distance \(d\) of the code is the smallest number of positions in which two different elements of \(C\) differ. The Singleton bound indicates that \(d\leq n-k+1\) and an \([n,k,n-k+1]\)-code is called maximum distance separable (MDS) code. The focal point in this thesis are codes that have parameters near this Singleton bound. A canonical way to obtain codes near this bound is to use algebraic geometric curves of small genera. Codes that arise from algebraic curves are called algebraic geometric codes. A considerable part of this paper is devoted to the study of the parameters of algebraic geometric codes that arise from elliptic and hyperelliptic curves. We remark that codes that are very close to the Singleton bound, without attaining it, have had far less attention. In this paper, the author studies such codes. Using geometrical tools he derives bounds on the parameters of such codes, and gives some constructions. The author concludes his work by constructing classes of codes from quadrics and Hermitian varieties.