Witt index for Galois ring valued quadratic forms (Q973965)

Let \(R\) be a Galois ring of characteristic 4 and order \(q^2\), where \(q\) is a 2-power. Let \(V\) be a finite dimensional vector space over the residue field \(\text{GF}(q)\). An \(R\)-valued quadratic form is a quadratic map \(Q: V\to R\). The authors show that if \(Q\) is non-singular then maximal \(Q\)-isotropic subspaces have the same dimension, the Witt index. They compute the Witt index in terms of an invariant \(\mathcal I\). A consequence is that \(V\) has a self-dual \(Q\)-isotropic subspace iff \(\mathcal I(Q)=0\).