On defining generalized rank weights

Abstract: This paper investigates the generalized rank weights, with a definition implied by the study of the generalized rank weight enumerator. We study rank metric codes over $L$, where $L$ is a finite Galois extension of a field $K$. This is a generalization of the case where $K = \mathbb{F}q$ and $L = \mathbb{F}{q^m}$ of Gabidulin codes to arbitrary characteristic. We show equivalence to previous definitions, in particular the ones by Kurihara-Matsumoto-Uyematsu, Oggier-Sboui and Ducoat. As an application of the notion of generalized rank weights, we discuss codes that are degenerate with respect to the rank metric.