Vector bundles on curves over \(\mathbb F_q\) and algebraic codes (Q958624)

Let \(X\) be a non-singular, projective, geometrically connected algebraic curve over \(\mathbb F_q\) of genus \(g\). Let \(E\) be a vector bundle over \(X\) defined over \(\mathbb F_q\) of degree \(e(E)\) and rank \(r(E)\). \textit{V. Savin} [Algebraic-geometric codes from vector bundles and their decoding, \url{arXiv: 0803.1096}] constructed linear codes \(C\) by evaluating functions of \(H^0(X,E)\) at \(\mathbb F_q\)-rational points. These codes admit a reseanable decoding complexity and generalize the so called algebraic geometry Goppa codes (AG-codes). Let \(k=k(C)\) and \(d=d(C)\) denote the dimension and minimum distance of \(C\) respectively. If \(r(E)=1\) and \(e(E)<0\), \(h^0(X;E)=0\) and we use the Riemann-Roch and Hasse-Weil theorems to deal with \(k\) and \(d\). However, if \(r\geq 2\), we may have \(h^0(X;E)>1\). To avoid this situation Savin considers vector bundles satisfying a ``weakly stable'' property, namely those \(E\) such that \(e(L)\leq e(E)/r(E)\) for any line sub-bundle \(L\) of \(E\) defined over \(\mathbb F_q\). In this way the codes over \(E\) satisfy lower bounds of AG-type; for example, if \(\mu:=e(E)/r(R)<n\), then \(k=h^0(X,E)/r\geq \mu+1-g\) and \(d\geq n-\lfloor \mu\rfloor \). In this paper Ballico constructs weakly stable vector bundles of rank \(r\geq 2\) by using the existence of linear series allowed by the Brill-Noether theory over finite fields and the concept of 1-order of stability, cf. \textit{B. Russo} and \textit{M. Teixidor i Bigas} [J. Algebr. Geom. 8, No. 3, 483--496 (1999; Zbl 0942.14013)].