Classification of Generalized Hadamard Matrices $H(6,3)$ and Quaternary Hermitian Self-Dual Codes of Length 18

Abstract

All generalized Hadamard matrices of order 18 over a group of order 3, $H(6,3)$, are enumerated in two different ways: once, as class regular symmetric $(6,3)$-nets, or symmetric transversal designs on 54 points and 54 blocks with a group of order 3 acting semi-regularly on points and blocks, and secondly, as collections of full weight vectors in quaternary Hermitian self-dual codes of length 18. The second enumeration is based on the classification of Hermitian self-dual $[18,9]$ codes over $GF(4)$, completed in this paper. It is shown that up to monomial equivalence, there are 85 generalized Hadamard matrices $H(6,3)$, and 245 inequivalent Hermitian self-dual codes of length 18 over $GF(4)$.