A Combinatorial Approach to Flag Codes

In network coding, a flag code is a collection of flags, that is, sequences of nested subspaces of a vector space over a finite field. Due to its definition as the sum of the corresponding subspace distances, the flag distance parameter encloses a hidden combinatorial structure. To bring it to light, in this paper, we interpret flag distances by means of distance paths drawn in a convenient distance support. The shape of such a support allows us to create an ad hoc associated Ferrers diagram frame where we develop a combinatorial approach to flag codes by relating the possible realizations of their minimum distance to different partitions of appropriate integers. This novel viewpoint permits to establish noteworthy connections between the flag code parameters and the ones of its projected codes in terms of well known concepts coming from the classical partitions theory.