On Hull-Variation Problem of Equivalent Linear Codes

The intersection ${\bf C}\bigcap {\bf C}^{\perp}$ (${\bf C}\bigcap {\bf C}^{\perp_h}$) of a linear code ${\bf C}$ and its Euclidean dual ${\bf C}^{\perp}$ (Hermitian dual ${\bf C}^{\perp_h}$) is called the Euclidean (Hermitian) hull of this code. The construction of an entanglement-assisted quantum code from a linear code over ${\bf F}_q$ or ${\bf F}_{q^2}$ depends essentially on the Euclidean hull or the Hermitian hull of this code. Therefore it is natural to consider the hull-variation problem when a linear code ${\bf C}$ is transformed to an equivalent code ${\bf v} \cdot {\bf C}$. In this paper we introduce the maximal hull dimension as an invariant of a linear code with respect to the equivalent transformations. Then some basic properties of the maximal hull dimension are studied. A general method to construct hull-decreasing or hull-increasing equivalent linear codes is proposed. We prove that for a nonnegative integer $h$ satisfying $0 \leq h \leq n-1$, a linear $[2n, n]_q$ self-dual code is equivalent to a linear $h$-dimension hull code. On the opposite direction we prove that a linear LCD code over ${\bf F}_{2^s}$ satisfying $d\geq 2$ and $d^{\perp} \geq 2$ is equivalent to a linear one-dimension hull code under a weak condition. Several new families of negacyclic LCD codes and BCH LCD codes over ${\bf F}_3$ are also constructed. Our method can be applied to the generalized Reed-Solomon codes and the generalized twisted Reed-Solomon codes to construct arbitrary dimension hull MDS codes. Some new EAQEC codes including MDS and almost MDS entanglement-assisted quantum codes are constructed. Many EAQEC codes over small fields are constructed from optimal Hermitian self-dual codes.