On degree-d zero-sum sets of full rank

A set 𝑆⊆𝔽𝑛2 is called degree-d zero-sum if the sum ∑𝑠∈𝑆𝑓(𝑠) vanishes for all n-bit Boolean functions of algebraic degree at most d. Those sets correspond to the supports of the n-bit Boolean functions of degree at most n − d − 1. We prove some results on the existence of degree-d zero-sum sets of full rank, i.e., those that contain n linearly independent elements, and show relations to degree-1 annihilator spaces of Boolean functions and semi-orthogonal matrices. We are particularly interested in the smallest of such sets and prove bounds on the minimum number of elements in a degree-d zero-sum set of rank n. The motivation for studying those objects comes from the fact that degree-d zero-sum sets of full rank can be used to build linear mappings that preserve special kinds of nonlinear invariants, similar to those obtained from orthogonal matrices and exploited by Todo, Leander and Sasaki for breaking the block ciphers Midori, Scream and iScream.