Related papers: Zero-sum-free sequences with few subsequence sums

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group, and let $S$ be a sequence over $G$. Let $f(S)$ denote the number of elements in $G$ which can be expressed as the sum over a nonempty subsequence of $S$. In this paper, we determine all the sequences $S$…

We show that a finite zero-sum-free sequence $\alpha$ over an abelian group has at least $c|\alpha|^{4/3}$ distinct subsequence sums, unless $\alpha$ is "controlled" by a small number of its terms; here $|\alpha|$ denotes the number of…

Let n be an integer, and consider finite sequences of elements of the group Z/nZ x Z/nZ. Such a sequence is called zero-sum free, if no subsequence has sum zero. It is known that the maximal length of such a zero-sum free sequence is 2n-2,…

A sequence in an additively written abelian group is called zero-free if each of its nonempty subsequences has sum different from the zero element of the group. The article determines the structure of the zero-free sequences with lengths…

Let $A$ be a finite, nonempty subset of an abelian group. We show that if every element of $A$ is a sum of two other elements, then $A$ has a nonempty zero-sum subset. That is, a (finite, nonempty) sum-full subset of an abelian group is not…

A sequence in the additive group ${\mathbb Z}_n$ of integers modulo $n$ is called $n$-zero-free if it does not contain subsequences with length $n$ and sum zero. The article characterizes the $n$-zero-free sequences in ${\mathbb Z}_n$ of…

In this paper we discuss some of the key properties of sum-free subsets of abelian groups. Our discussion has been designed with a broader readership in mind, and is hence not overly technical. We consider answers to questions like: how…

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.

For a sequence $S$ over a finite abelian group, let $MZ(S)$ denote the length of the shortest nonempty zero-sum subsequence of $S$. We prove that if $G$ is finite abelian of order $n$ and $S$ has length $n$, then $MZ(S)\le n-|\supp(S)|+1$.…

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…

It is well-known that any sequence of at least N integers contains a subsequence whose sum is 0 (mod N). However, there can be very few subsequences with this property (e.g. if the initial sequence is just N 1's, then there is only one…

Let $G$ be an additive finite abelian group, and let $\mathrm{disc}(G)$ denote the smallest positive integer $t$ with the property that every sequence $S$ over $G$ with length $|S|\geq t $ contains two nonempty zero-sum subsequences of…

Let A be a subset of an abelian group G. We say that A is sum-free if there do not exist x,y and z in A satisfying x + y = z. We determine, for any G, the cardinality of the largest sum-free subset of G. This equals c(G)|G| where c(G) is a…

Let $G$ be an additive abelian group and $S\subset G$ a subset. Let $\Sigma(S)$ denote the set of group elements which can be expressed as a sum of a nonempty subset of $S$. We say $S$ is zero-sum free if $0 \not\in \Sigma(S)$. It was…

A subset of an abelian group is {\em sequenceable} if there is an ordering $(x_1, \ldots, x_k)$ of its elements such that the partial sums $(y_0, y_1, \ldots, y_k)$, given by $y_0 = 0$ and $y_i = \sum_{j=1}^i x_i$ for $1 \leq i \leq k$, are…

Let $n$ be a positive integer and let $S$ be a sequence of $n$ integers in the interval $[0,n-1]$. If there is an $r$ such that any nonempty subsequence with sum $\equiv 0$ $\pmod n$ has length $=r,$ then $S$ has at most two distinct…

Let A be a subset of a finite abelian group G. We say that A is sum-free if there is no solution of the equation x + y = z, with x, y, z belonging to the set A. In this paper we shall characterise the largest possible sum-free subsets of G…

Let $G=(\mathbb Z/n\mathbb Z) \oplus (\mathbb Z/n\mathbb Z)$. Let $\mathsf {s}_{\leq k}(G)$ be the smallest integer $\ell$ such that every sequence of $\ell$ terms from $G$, with repetition allowed, has a nonempty zero-sum subsequence with…

The purpose of the article is to provide an unified way to formulate zero-sum invariants. Let $G$ be a finite additive abelian group. Let $B(G)$ denote the set consisting of all nonempty zero-sum sequences over G. For $\Omega \subset B(G$),…

A set of elements of a finite abelian group is called sum-free if it contains no Schur triple, i.e., no triple of elements $x,y,z$ with $x+y=z$. The study of how large the largest sum-free subset of a given abelian group is had started more…