English

Doubly-weighted zero-sum constants

Number Theory 2026-01-07 v3

Abstract

Let A,BZnA,B\subseteq\mathbb Z_n be given and S=(x1,,xk)S=(x_1,\ldots, x_k) be a sequence in Zn\mathbb Z_n. We say that SS is an (A,B)(A,B)-weighted zero-sum sequence if there exist a1,,akAa_1,\ldots,a_k\in A and b1,,bkBb_1,\ldots,b_k\in B such that a1x1++akxk=0a_1x_1+\cdots+a_kx_k=0 and b1a1++bkak=0b_1a_1+\cdots+b_ka_k=0. We show that if SS has length 2n12n-1, then SS has an (A,B)(A,B)-weighted zero-sum subsequence of length nn. The constant EA,BE_{A,B} is defined to be the smallest positive integer kk such that every sequence of length kk in Zn\mathbb Z_n has an (A,B)(A,B)-weighted zero-sum subsequence of length nn. A sequence in Zn\mathbb Z_n of length EA,B1E_{A,B}-1 which does not have any (A,B)(A,B)-weighted zero-sum subsequence of length nn is called an EE-extremal sequence for (A,B)(A,B). We determine the constant EA,BE_{A,B} and characterize the EE-extremal sequences for some pairs (A,B)(A,B). We also study the related constants CA,BC_{A,B} and DA,BD_{A,B} which are defined in the article.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2311.00090,
  title  = {Doubly-weighted zero-sum constants},
  author = {Krishnendu Paul and Shameek Paul},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.00090},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

18 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-28T13:07:54.301Z