Related papers: The sum-product problem for small sets
Let $p>3$ be a prime, and let $a$ be a rational p-adic integer with $a\not\equiv 0\pmod p$. In this paper we establish congruences for $$\sum_{k=1}^{(p-1)/2}\frac{\binom ak\binom{-1-a}k}k, \quad\sum_{k=0}^{(p-1)/2}k\binom ak\binom{-1-a}k…
We establish some supercongruences related to a supercongruence of Van Hamme, such as \begin{align*} \sum_{k=0}^{(p+1)/2} (-1)^k (4k-1)\frac{(-\frac{1}{2})_k^3}{k!^3} &\equiv p(-1)^{(p+1)/2}+p^3(2-E_{p-3})\pmod{p^{4}},\\…
In his 1979 paper Samuel Wagstaff studied the problem of bounding the first prime in an arithmetic progression. In this paper we update a number of his computations using advances in hardware. Based on this we refine his conjecture on…
We prove bounds for the number of solutions to $$a_1 + \dots + a_k = a_1' + \dots + a_k'$$ over $N$-element sets of reals, which are sufficiently convex or near-convex. A near-convex set will be the image of a set with small additive…
Using various results from extremal set theory (interpreted in the language of additive combinatorics), we prove an asyptotically sharp version of Freiman's theorem in F_2^n: if A in F_2^n is a set for which |A + A| <= K|A| then A is…
In convex geometry, the Shapley-Folkman Lemma asserts that the nonconvexity of a Minkowski sum of $n$ dimensional bounded nonconvex sets does not accumulate once the number of summands exceeds the dimension $n$, and thus the sum becomes…
Let $P \subset \mathbb R^2$ be a point set with cardinality $N$. We give an improved bound for the number of dot products determined by $P$, proving that, \[ |\{ p \cdot q :p,q \in P \}| \gg N^{2/3+c}. \] A crucial ingredient in the proof…
We study for bounded multiplicative functions $f$ sums of the form \begin{align*} \sum_{\substack{n\leq x \atop n\equiv a\pmod q}}f(n), \end{align*} establishing that their variance over residue classes $a \pmod q$ is small as soon as…
Let $\Delta_{k}(x)$ be the error term in the classical asymptotic formula for the sum $\sum_{n\leq x}d_{k}(n)$, where $d_{k}(n)$ is the number of ways $n$ can be written as a product of $k$ factors. We study the analytic properties of the…
Freiman's theorem asserts, roughly speaking, if that a finite set in a torsion-free abelian group has small doubling, then it can be efficiently contained in (or controlled by) a generalised arithmetic progression. This was generalised by…
Let $A$ be a finite subset of an abelian group $G$, and suppose that $|A+A|\leq K|A|$. We show that for any $\epsilon>0$, there exists a constant $C_\epsilon$ such that $A$ can be covered by at most $\exp(C_\epsilon \log(2K)^{1+\epsilon})$…
We discuss a multiplicative counterpart of Freiman's $3k-4$ theorem in the context of a function field $F$ over an algebraically closed field $K$. Such a theorem would give a precise description of subspaces $S$, such that the space $S^2$…
We give several families of reasonably small integers $k, \ell \ge 1$ and real positive $\alpha, \beta \le 1$, such that the products $p_1\ldots p_k s$, where $p_1, \ldots, p_k \le m^\alpha$ are primes and $s \le m^\beta$ is a product of at…
Noam Elkies and Everett Howe independently noticed a certain elegant product formula for the multiple integral \int_R \prod_{1 \le i < j \le k} (x_j-x_i) dx_1 \cdots dx_k, where the region $R$ is the set of $k$-tuples satisfying $0 < x_1 <…
We study some sum-product problems over matrix rings. Firstly, for $A, B, C\subseteq M_n(\mathbb{F}_q)$, we have $$ |A+BC|\gtrsim q^{n^2}, $$ whenever $|A||B||C|\gtrsim q^{3n^2-\frac{n+1}{2}}$. Secondly, if a set $A$ in $M_n(\mathbb{F}_q)$…
In this paper we prove some results on sum-product estimates over arbitrary finite fields. More precisely, we show that for sufficiently small sets $A\subset \mathbb{F}_q$ we have \[|(A-A)^2+(A-A)^2|\gg |A|^{1+\frac{1}{21}}.\] This can be…
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 investigate additive properties of sets $A,$ where $A=\{a_1,a_2,\ldots ,a_k\}$ is a monotone increasing set of real numbers, and the differences of consecutive elements are all distinct. It is known that $|A+B|\geq c|A||B|^{1/2}$ for any…
Let $R$ be a finite valuation ring of order $q^r.$ Using a point-plane incidence estimate in $R^3$, we obtain sum-product type estimates for subsets of $R$. In particular, we prove that for $A\subset R$, $$|AA+A|\gg \min\left\{q^{r},…
Let $<\P > \subset \N$ be a multiplicative subsemigroup of the natural numbers $\N = \{1,2,3,...\}$ generated by an arbitrary set $\P$ of primes (finite or infinite). We given an elementary proof that the partial sums $\sum_{n \in < \P >: n…