A new coding theory, for normal surfaces, and ADE singularities, I

Abstract: In this article we extend the theory of the binary codes (the strict code $\mathcal{K}$ and the extended code $\mathcal{K}'$), associated to a projective nodal surface, to a coding theory for normal surfaces, with special consideration of the surfaces with ADE (Rational Double Points) singularities. We define a new theory of generalized labeled codes, establish in the geometric case basic restrictions for the weights of these codes, and some basic inequality. A crucial method that we establish is the extension of the concept of `code shortening' to the case of generalized codes: this is the algebraic counterpart of the geometric notion of a partial smoothing of the singular points, and leads to the concept of ancestors, which we illustrate through several examples.