On constacyclic codes over $\mathbb{Z}_4[u]/\langle u^2-1\rangle$ and their Gray images

We first define a new Gray map from $R=\mathbb{Z}_4+u\mathbb{Z}_4$ to $\mathbb{Z}^{2}_{4}$, where $u^2=1$ and study $(1+2u)$-constacyclic codes over $R$. Also of interest are some properties of $(1+2u)$-constacyclic codes over $R$. Considering their $\mathbb{Z}_4$ images, we prove that the Gray images of $(1+2u)$-constacyclic codes of length $n$ over $R$ are cyclic codes of length $2n$ over $\mathbb{Z}_4$. In many cases the latter codes have better parameters than those in the online database of Aydin and Asamov. We also give a corrected version of a table of new cyclic $R$-codes published by Özen et al. in Finite Fields and Their Applications, {\bf 38}, (2016) 27-39.