New constructions of optimal linear codes from simplicial complexes

In this paper, we construct a large family of projective linear codes over ${\mathbb F}_{q}$ from the general simplicial complexes of ${\mathbb F}_{q}^m$ via the defining-set construction, which generalizes the results of [IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 66(11):6762-6773, 2020]. The parameters and weight distribution of this class of codes are completely determined. By using the Griesmer bound, we give a necessary and sufficient condition such that the codes are Griesmer codes and a sufficient condition such that the codes are distance-optimal. For a special case, we also present a necessary and sufficient condition for the codes to be near Griesmer codes. Moreover, by discussing the cases of simplicial complexes with one, two and three maximal elements respectively, the parameters and weight distributions of the codes are given more explicitly, which shows that the codes are at most $2$-weight, $5$-weight and $19$-weight respectively. By studying the optimality of the codes for the three cases in detail, many infinite families of optimal linear codes with few weights over ${\mathbb F}_{q}$ are obtained, including Griesmer codes, near Griesmer codes and distance-optimal codes.