$(σ, τ)$-Derivations of Number Rings with Coding Theory Applications

Abstract: In this article, we study $(\sigma, \tau)$-derivations of number rings by considering them as commutative unital $\mathbb{Z}$-algebras. We begin by characterizing all $(\sigma, \tau)$-derivations and inner $(\sigma, \tau)$-derivations of the ring of algebraic integers of a quadratic number field. Then we characterize all $(\sigma, \tau)$-derivations of the ring of algebraic integers $\mathbb{Z}[\zeta]$ of a $p^{\text{th}}$-cyclotomic number field $\mathbb{Q}(\zeta)$ ($p$ odd rational prime and $\zeta$ a primitive $p^{\text{th}}$-root of unity). We also conjecture (using SAGE and MATLAB) an \enquote{if and only if} condition for a $(\sigma, \tau)$-derivation $D$ on $\mathbb{Z}[\zeta]$ to be inner. We further characterize all $(\sigma, \tau)$-derivations and inner $(\sigma, \tau)$-derivations of the bi-quadratic number ring $\mathbb{Z}[\sqrt{m}, \sqrt{n}]$ ($m$, $n$ distinct square-free rational integers). In each of the above cases, we also determine the rank and an explicit basis of the derivation algebra consisting of all $(\sigma, \tau)$-derivations of the number ring. Finally, we give the applications of the above work in coding theory by giving the notion of a Hom-IDD code.