Reed-Muller type codes over a combinatorial simplex: an algebraic description

Abstract

Given an ordered set $B$ of a finite field, a combinatorial simplex over $B$ is defined as the set of vectors such that the positions of the entries, with respect to $B$, sum up to a fixed integer. CAP codes are Reed-Muller type codes defined over a combinatorial simplex. They were recently introduced by Kopparty et al. as a high-rate alternative to classical Reed-Muller codes, capable of achieving arbitrarily high rates close to one for any fixed minimum distance. In this paper, we use tools from commutative algebra to analyze a combinatorial simplex and its associated CAP code. We give a universal Gröbner basis for the vanishing ideal of a combinatorial simplex. We describe the generalized Hamming weights of a CAP code in terms of the footprint of the vanishing ideal. For the minimum distance case, we proved a closed formula. We give a set of polynomials whose evaluations on the combinatorial simplex generate the dual of the CAP code. We describe the affine permutations that leave invariant a combinatorial simplex and use this information to prove that, in some cases, the permutation group of a CAP code is a symmetric group.