Cyclic Codes over a Non-Local Non-Unital Ring

We study cyclic codes over the ring H of order 4 and characteristic 2 defined by generators and relations as H=⟨a,b∣2a=2b=0,a2=0,b2=b,ab=ba=0⟩. This is the first time that cyclic codes over a non-unitary ring are studied. Every cyclic code of length n over H is uniquely determined by the data of an ordered pair of binary cyclic codes of length n. We characterize self-dual, quasi-self-dual, and linear complementary dual cyclic codes H. We classify cyclic codes of length at most 7 up to equivalence. A Gray map between cyclic codes of length n over H and quasi-cyclic codes of length 2n over F2 is studied.