Linearity and classification of Z _pZ _{p ²} -linear generalized Hadamard codes

The Z pZ p 2 -additive codes are subgroups of Z p α 1 ×Z p 2 α 2 , and can be seen as linear codes over Z p when α 2=0, Z p 2 -additive codes when α 1=0, or Z 2Z 4-additive codes when p=2. A Z pZ p 2 -linear generalized Hadamard (GH) code is a GH code over Z p which is the Gray map image of a Z pZ p 2 -additive code. Recursive constructions of Z pZ p 2 -additive GH codes of type (α 1,α 2;t 1,t 2) with t 1,t 2≥1 are known. In this paper, we generalize some known results for Z pZ p 2 -linear GH codes with p=2 to any p≥3 prime when α 1≠0, and then we compare them with the ones obtained when α 1=0. First, we show for which types the corresponding Z pZ p 2 -linear GH codes are nonlinear over Z p. Then, for these codes, we compute the kernel and its dimension, which allow us to classify them completely. Moreover, by computing the rank of some of these codes, we show that, unlike Z 4-linear Hadamard codes, the Z p 2 -linear GH codes are not included in the family of Z pZ p 2 -linear GH codes with α 1≠0 when p≥3 prime. Indeed, there are some families with infinite nonlinear Z pZ p 2 -linear GH codes, where the codes are not equivalent to any Z p s -linear GH code with s≥2.