Exhaustive search for low-autocorrelation binary sequences

Binary sequences with low autocorrelations are important in communication engineering and in statistical mechanics as ground states of the Bernasconi model. Computer searches are the main tool in the construction of such sequences. Owing to the exponential size of the configuration space, exhaustive searches are limited to short sequences. We discuss an exhaustive search algorithm with run-time characteristic and apply it to compile a table of exact ground states of the Bernasconi model up to N = 48. The data suggest F > 9 for the optimal merit factor in the limit .