TheoremDB
R243claimStatus: establishedEvidence: ReproducedReplay: source only

[#R243] Every witness has the same weight enumerator

claim. Gleason's theorem forces 249,849 words of weight 16 and fixes every other weight count.

View evidenceOpen source ↗

1Summary

Set \[ A=x^8+14x^4y^4+y^8, \qquad B=x^4y^4(x^4-y^4)^4. \] Gleason's theorem and the absence of weights 4, 8, and 12 force \[ W=A^9-126A^6B+3015A^3B^2-4398B^3. \] Expanding gives \[ \begin{aligned} W(1,y)={}&1+249849y^{16}+18106704y^{20}+462962955y^{24}\\ &+4397342400y^{28}+16602715899y^{32}+25756721120y^{36}\\ &+16602715899y^{40}+4397342400y^{44}+462962955y^{48}\\ &+18106704y^{52}+249849y^{56}+y^{72}. \end{aligned} \] The coefficients sum to \(2^{36}\), have the required complement symmetry, and are nonnegative. Sloane already listed these values in the 1973 problem statement.

The Assmus-Mattson theorem makes the supports at each nontrivial weight a 5-design. In particular, the 249,849 minimum-word supports form a \[ 5\text{-}(72,16,78) \] design because \[ 249849\binom{16}{5}/\binom{72}{5}=78. \] These arithmetic conditions are consistent and leave existence open.

Reproduced evidence. Recorded scope: every binary doubly-even self-dual [72,36,16] code, if one exists.

2Evidence

Evidence package: source only

A verification source is cited. This record has no executable replay attached.

Verification source: doi.org ↗, Sloane 1973, weight-distribution table and 5-(72,16,78) consequence; independently expanded and checked in etc72-artifact-enumerator-replay

3What was measured

Total codewords
68,719,476,736
Minimum support design
5-(72,16,78)

Weight distribution

0116249,8492018,106,70424462,962,955284,397,342,4003216,602,715,8993625,756,721,1204016,602,715,899444,397,342,40048462,962,9555218,106,70456249,849721

4How it connects

Validates (incoming)

Informs

Recorded for

5Agent packet

A compact handoff with the evidence boundary, replay manifest, and relation pointers.

View structured packet
json
{
  "schema": "theoremdb-agent-record-v1",
  "ref": "R243",
  "content_hash": null,
  "slug": "etc72-claim-forced-weight-enumerator",
  "type": "claim",
  "title": "Every witness has the same weight enumerator",
  "summary": "Gleason's theorem forces 249,849 words of weight 16 and fixes every other weight count.",
  "relevance": "For An extremal Type II binary code of length 72, record etc72-claim-forced-weight-enumerator (“Every witness has the same weight enumerator”) records a bound, answer, status fact, or structural consequence. The record states: Gleason's theorem forces 249,849 words of weight 16 and fixes every other weight count.",
  "relevance_source": "recorded",
  "body": "Set\n\\[\nA=x^8+14x^4y^4+y^8,\n\\qquad\nB=x^4y^4(x^4-y^4)^4.\n\\]\nGleason's theorem and the absence of weights 4, 8, and 12 force\n\\[\nW=A^9-126A^6B+3015A^3B^2-4398B^3.\n\\]\nExpanding gives\n\\[\n\\begin{aligned}\nW(1,y)={}&1+249849y^{16}+18106704y^{20}+462962955y^{24}\\\\\n&+4397342400y^{28}+16602715899y^{32}+25756721120y^{36}\\\\\n&+16602715899y^{40}+4397342400y^{44}+462962955y^{48}\\\\\n&+18106704y^{52}+249849y^{56}+y^{72}.\n\\end{aligned}\n\\]\nThe coefficients sum to \\(2^{36}\\), have the required complement symmetry, and are nonnegative. Sloane already listed these values in the 1973 problem statement.\n\nThe Assmus-Mattson theorem makes the supports at each nontrivial weight a 5-design. In particular, the 249,849 minimum-word supports form a\n\\[\n5\\text{-}(72,16,78)\n\\]\ndesign because\n\\[\n249849\\binom{16}{5}/\\binom{72}{5}=78.\n\\]\nThese arithmetic conditions are consistent and leave existence open.",
  "status": "established",
  "evidence_grade": "reproduced",
  "scope": {
    "kind": "universal",
    "statement": "every binary doubly-even self-dual [72,36,16] code, if one exists"
  },
  "reproduction": {
    "schema": "theoremdb-reproduction-v1",
    "readiness": "source_only",
    "kind": "claim",
    "citation": {
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1109/TIT.1973.1054975",
      "locator": "Sloane 1973, weight-distribution table and 5-(72,16,78) consequence; independently expanded and checked in etc72-artifact-enumerator-replay"
    },
    "missing": [
      "source",
      "command",
      "runtime",
      "expected_output"
    ]
  },
  "formal_statement": null,
  "source": {
    "url": "https://doi.org/10.1109/TIT.1973.1054975",
    "locator": "Sloane 1973, weight-distribution table and 5-(72,16,78) consequence; independently expanded and checked in etc72-artifact-enumerator-replay"
  },
  "relations": [
    {
      "slug": "R240",
      "title": "Exact Gleason and 5-design parameter replay",
      "object_type": "artifact",
      "relation": "validates",
      "direction": "incoming"
    },
    {
      "slug": "R244",
      "title": "Existence remains open",
      "object_type": "claim",
      "relation": "informs",
      "direction": "outgoing"
    },
    {
      "slug": "extremal-type-ii-code-72",
      "title": "extremal type ii code 72",
      "object_type": "problem",
      "relation": "recorded_for",
      "direction": "outgoing"
    }
  ]
}

6Provenance

View source, identifiers, and projection details
Project
extremal-type-ii-code-72
Locator
Sloane 1973, weight-distribution table and 5-(72,16,78) consequence; independently expanded and checked in etc72-artifact-enumerator-replay
License
CC0-1.0
Contributors
TheoremDB entry research, 2026-07-25
Public record
R243
Stable alias
etc72-claim-forced-weight-enumerator
Projection
Reproduction fields are derived from the immutable record.

A statement this project treats as settled at the recorded evidence grade, with the work that backs it.

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