English

The structure of critical sets for F_p arithmetic progressions

Combinatorics 2008-02-19 v3 Number Theory

Abstract

Fix a prime p and a density 0 < d <= 1. Among all functions f : F_p -> [0,1], what can one say about those which assign minimal weight to three-term arithmetic progressions -- that is, the sum of f(a)f(a+x)f(a+2x) is minimal as we sum over all a and x -- subject to the density constraint that the expected value of f equals d? In the present paper we show three things about them: 1) Such f are nearly indicator functions; 2) They enjoy a certain ``local minimal'' property; and, 3) They are approximately indicator functions for certain sumsets A+B.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0712.1611,
  title  = {The structure of critical sets for F_p arithmetic progressions},
  author = {Ernie Croot},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0712.1611},
  year   = {2008}
}

Comments

Light corrections, some more commentary in a few places. 20 pages