Related papers: The sum-free process
Let $\mathbb Z_n$ be the cyclic group of order $n \ge 3$ additively written. S. Savchev \& F. Chen (2007) proved that for each zero-sum free sequence $S = a_1 \bullet \dots \bullet a_t$ over $\mathbb Z_n$ of length $t > n/2$, there is an…
Given a linear equation $\mathcal{L}$, a set $A \subseteq [n]$ is $\mathcal{L}$-free if $A$ does not contain any `non-trivial' solutions to $\mathcal{L}$. We determine the precise size of the largest $\mathcal{L}$-free subset of $[n]$ for…
In this paper we rectify two previous results found in the literature. Our work leads to a new upper bound for the largest sum-free subset of $[1,n]$ with lowest value in $\left [\frac{n}{3},\frac{n}{2}\right ]$, and the identification of…
Answering a question of P. Erdos from 1965, we show that for every eps>0 there is a set A of n integers with the following property: every subset A' of A with at least (1/3 + eps)n elements contains three distinct elements x,y,z with x + y…
Let A be a zero-sum free subset of Z_n with |A|=k. We compute for k\le 7 the least possible size of the set of all subset-sums of A.
We show that a zero-sum-free sequence of length $n$ over an abelian group spans at least $2n$ distinct subsequence sums, unless it possesses a rigid, easily-described structure.
Given a linear equation $\mathcal{L}$, a set $A$ of integers is $\mathcal{L}$-free if $A$ does not contain any `non-trivial' solutions to $\mathcal{L}$. This notion incorporates many central topics in combinatorial number theory such as…
Consider the triangle-free graph process, which starts from the empty graph on $n$ vertices and a random ordering of the possible ${n \choose 2}$ edges; the edges are added in this ordering provided the graph remains triangle free. We will…
A $k$-configuration is a collection of $k$ distinct integers $x_1,\ldots,x_k$ together with their pairwise arithmetic means $\frac{x_i+x_j}{2}$ for $1 \leq i < j \leq k$. Building on recent work of Filmus, Hatami, Hosseini and Kelman on…
We consider the K_4-free process. In this process, the edges of the complete n-vertex graph are traversed in a uniformly random order, and each traversed edge is added to an initially empty evolving graph, unless the addition of the edge…
There has been much work on the following question: given n how large can a subset of {1,...,n} be that has no arithmetic progressions of length 3. We call such sets 3-free. Most of the work has been asymptotic. In this paper we sketch…
We discuss several questions concerning sum-free sets in groups, raised by Erd\H{o}s in his survey "Extremal problems in number theory" (Proceedings of the Symp. Pure Math. VIII AMS) published in 1965. Among other things, we give a…
Let $F$ be a strictly $k$-balanced $k$-uniform hypergraph with $e(F)\geq |F|-k+1$ and maximum co-degree at least two. The random greedy $F$-free process constructs a maximal $F$-free hypergraph as follows. Consider a random ordering of the…
In this paper we study sum-free sets of order $m$ in finite Abelian groups. We prove a general theorem on 3-uniform hypergraphs, which allows us to deduce structural results in the sparse setting from stability results in the dense setting.…
Let $A, B\subseteq \mathbb{R}^2$ be finite, nonempty subsets, let $s\geq 2$ be an integer, and let $h_1(A,B)$ denote the minimal number $t$ such that there exist $2t$ (not necessarily distinct) parallel lines,…
We consider the next greedy randomized process for generating maximal H-free graphs: Given a fixed graph H and an integer n, start by taking a uniformly random permutation of the edges of the complete n-vertex graph. Then, construct an…
Szemer\'edi's theorem implies that there are $2^{o(n)}$ subsets of $[n]$ which do not contain a $k$-term arithmetic progression. A sparse analogue of this statement was obtained by Balogh, Morris, and Samotij, using the hypergraph container…
Let $A$ be a subset of a finite field $\mathbb{F}$. When $\mathbb{F}$ has prime order, we show that there is an absolute constant $c > 0$ such that, if $A$ is both sum-free and equal to the set of its multiplicative inverses, then $|A| <…
Let $C_n$ be a cyclic group of order $n$. A sequence $S$ of length $\ell$ over $C_n$ is a sequence $S = a_1\boldsymbol\cdot a_2\boldsymbol\cdot \ldots\boldsymbol\cdot a_{\ell}$ of $\ell$ elements in $C_n$, where a repetition of elements is…
We investigate subsets with small sumset in arbitrary abelian groups. For an abelian group $G$ and an $n$-element subset $Y \subseteq G$ we show that if $m \ll s^2/(\log n)^2$, then the number of subsets $A \subseteq Y$ with $|A| = s$ and…