Related papers: Large zero-free subsets of Z/pZ

Using the polynomial method in additive number theory, this article establishes a new addition theorem for the set of subsums of a set satisfying $A\cap(-A)=\emptyset$ in $\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}$:…

Two elements in a group $G$ are said to $z$-equivalent or to be in the same $z$-class if their centralizers are conjugate in $G$. In \cite{kkj}, it was proved that a non-abelian $p$-group $G$ can have at most $\frac{p^k-1}{p-1} +1$ number…

Let $n$ and $k$ be integers. A set $A\subset\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$ is $k$-free if for all $x$ in $A$, $kx\notin A$. We determine the maximal cardinality of such a set when $k$ and $n$ are coprime. We also study several particular cases and…

Let $\BZ_p$ be the finite field of prime order $p$ and $A$ be a subset of $\BZ_p$. We prove several sharp results about the following two basic questions: (1) When can one represent zero as a sum of distinct elements of $A$ ? (2) When can…

We call a subset $A$ of the (additive) abelian group $G$ {\it $t$-independent} if for all non-negative integers $h$ and $k$ with $h+k \leq t$, the sum of $h$ (not necessarily distinct) elements of $A$ does not equal the sum of $k$ (not…

We study sum-free sets in sparse random subsets of even order abelian groups. In particular, we determine the sharp threshold for the following property: the largest such set is contained in some maximum-size sum-free subset of the group.…

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group. The critical number ${\rm cr}(G)$ of $G$ is the least positive integer $\ell$ such that every subset $A\subseteq G\setminus\{0\}$ of cardinality at least $\ell$ spans $G$, i.e., every element of $G$ can be…

An abelian group is said to be aleph_1-free if all its countable subgroups are free. Our main result is: If R is a ring with R^+ free and |R|<lambda <= 2^{aleph_0}, then there exists an aleph_1-free abelian group G of cardinality lambda…

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group and $A$ be a subset of $G$. We say that $A$ is complete if every element of $G$ can be represented as a sum of different elements of $A$. In this paper, we study the following question: {\it What is the…

We extend the concepts of sum-free sets and Sidon-sets of combinatorial number theory with the aim to provide explicit constructions for spherical designs. We call a subset $S$ of the (additive) abelian group $G$ {\it $t$-free} if for all…

A subset $A$ of a finite abelian group $G$ is called $(k,l)$-sum-free if the sum of $k$ (not-necessarily-distinct) elements of $A$ never equals the sum of $l$ (not-necessarily-distinct) elements of $A$. We find an explicit formula for the…

In this paper we highlight a few open problems concerning maximal sum-free sets in abelian groups. In addition, for most even order abelian groups $G$ we asymptotically determine the number of maximal distinct sum-free subsets in $G$. Our…

A finite set $A$ of integers is square-sum-free if there is no subset of $A$ sums up to a square. In 1986, Erd\H os posed the problem of determining the largest cardinality of a square-sum-free subset of $\{1, ..., n \}$. Answering this…

A subset $A$ of a finite abelian group is called $(k,\ell)$-sum-free if $kA \cap \ell A=\emptyset.$ In this paper, we extend this concept to compact abelian groups and study the question of how large a measurable $(k,\ell)$-sum-free set can…

Suppose that $k\geq 2$ and $A$ is a non-empty subset of a finite abelian group $G$ with $|G|>1$. Then the cardinality of the restricted sumset $$ k^\wedge A:=\{a_1+\cdots+a_k:\,a_1,\ldots,a_k\in A,\ a_i\neq a_j\text{ for }i\neq j\} $$ is at…

A subset of a group is product-free if it does not contain elements a, b, c such that ab = c. We review progress on the problem of determining the size of the largest product-free subset of an arbitrary finite group, including a lower bound…

Let G be a group and let k be a cardinal. A subset A of G is called left (right) k-large if there exists a subset F of G such that |F| < { and G = FA (G = AF). We say that A is k-large if A is left and right k-large. It is known that every…

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group of order $n$. For any subset $B$ of $G$ with $B=-B$, the Cayley graph $G_B$ is a graph on vertex set $G$ in which $ij$ is an edge if and only if $i-j\in B.$ It was shown by Ben Green that when $G$ is a…

Tarnauceanu [Archiv der Mathematik, 102 (1), (2014), 11--14] gave a characterisation of elementary abelian $2$-groups in terms of their maximal sum-free sets. His theorem states that a finite group $G$ is an elementary abelian $2$-group if…

Let G=SL_3(Z/pZ), p a prime. Let A be a set of generators of G. Then A grows under the group operation. To be precise: denote by |S| the number of elements of a finite set S. Assume |A| < |G|^{1-\epsilon} for some \epsilon>0. Then |A\cdot…