An upper bound on the number of relevant variables for Boolean functions on the Hamming graph

Abstract: The spectrum of a complex-valued function $f$ on $\mathbb{Z}{q}^n$ is the set ${|u|:u\in \mathbb{Z}_q^n~\mathrm{and}~\widehat{f}(u)\neq 0}$, where $|u|$ is the Hamming weight of $u$ and $\widehat{f}$ is the Fourier transform of $f$. Let $1\leq d'\leq d\leq n$. In this work, we study Boolean functions on $\mathbb{Z}{q}^n$, $q\geq 3$, whose spectrum is a subset of ${0}\cup {d',\ldots,d}$. We prove that such functions have at most $\frac{d}{2}\cdot \frac{q^{d+d'}}{2^{d'}(q-1)^{d'}}$ relevant variables for $d'+d\leq n+1$. In particular, we prove that any Boolean function of degree $d$ on $\mathbb{Z}_{q}^n$, $q\geq 3$, has at most $\frac{dq^{d+1}}{4(q-1)}$ relevant variables. We also show that any equitable 2-partition of the Hamming graph $H(n,q)$, $q\geq 3$, associated with the eigenvalue $n(q-1)-qd$ has at most $\frac{d}{2}\cdot \frac{q^{2d}}{2^d(q-1)^{d}}$ relevant variables for $d\leq \frac{n+1}{2}$.