Linearized systems and a generalized Cayley–Hamilton theorem

Abstract

We study linearized systems of equations in characteristic [Formula: see text] of the form [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is a square matrix and [Formula: see text]. We present algorithms for calculating their solutions and for determining the minimum distance of their solution spaces. In the case when [Formula: see text] has entries in [Formula: see text], the finite field of [Formula: see text] elements, we explore the relationships between the minimal and characteristic polynomials of [Formula: see text] and the above mentioned features of the solution space. In order to extend and generalize these findings to the case when [Formula: see text] has entries in an arbitrary field of characteristic [Formula: see text], we obtain generalizations of the characteristic polynomial of a matrix and the Cayley–Hamilton theorem to square linearized systems.