Minimal Codewords in Linear Codes

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 94B05, 94B15.

Cyclic binary codes C of block length n = 2^m − 1 and generator polynomial g(x) = m1(x)m2^s+1(x), (s, m) = 1, are considered. The cardinalities of the sets of minimal codewords of weights 10 and 11 in codes C and of weight 12 in their extended codes ^C are determined. The weight distributions of minimal codewords in the binary Reed-Muller codes RM (3, 6) and RM (3, 7) are determined. The applied method enables codes with larger parameters to be attacked.