English

Minimum number of additive tuples in groups of prime order

Combinatorics 2019-03-13 v4

Abstract

For a prime number pp and a sequence of integers a0,,ak{0,1,,p}a_0,\dots,a_k\in \{0,1,\dots,p\}, let s(a0,,ak)s(a_0,\dots,a_k) be the minimum number of (k+1)(k+1)-tuples (x0,,xk)A0××Ak(x_0,\dots,x_k)\in A_0\times\dots\times A_k with x0=x1++xkx_0=x_1+\dots + x_k, over subsets A0,,AkZpA_0,\dots,A_k\subseteq\mathbb{Z}_p of sizes a0,,aka_0,\dots,a_k respectively. An elegant argument of Lev (independently rediscovered by Samotij and Sudakov) shows that there exists an extremal configuration with all sets AiA_i being intervals of appropriate length, and that the same conclusion also holds for the related problem, reposed by Bajnok, when a0==ak=:aa_0=\dots=a_k=:a and A0==AkA_0=\dots=A_k, provided kk is not equal 1 modulo pp. By applying basic Fourier analysis, we show for Bajnok's problem that if p13p\ge 13 and a{3,,p3}a\in\{3,\dots,p-3\} are fixed while k1(modp)k\equiv 1\pmod p tends to infinity, then the extremal configuration alternates between at least two affine non-equivalent sets.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1710.01936,
  title  = {Minimum number of additive tuples in groups of prime order},
  author = {Ostap Chervak and Oleg Pikhurko and Katherine Staden},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1710.01936},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

This version is the same as the published version except for modifications to reflect Reference [5], that was brought to our attention after publication