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Lower bounds for mask polynomials with many cyclotomic divisors

Number Theory 2026-03-24 v2 Combinatorics

Abstract

Given a nonempty set AN{0}A \subset \mathbb{N}\cup\{0\}, define the mask polynomial A(X)=aAXaA(X)=\sum_{a\in A} X^a. Suppose that there are s1,,sk\nn{1}s_1,\dots,s_k\in\nn\setminus\{1\} such that the cyclotomic polynomials Φs1,,Φsk\Phi_{s_1},\dots,\Phi_{s_k} divide A(X)A(X). What is the smallest possible size of AA? For k=1k=1, this was answered by Lam and Leung in 2000. Less is known about the case when k2k\geq 2; in particular, one may ask whether (similarly to the k=1k=1 case) the optimal configurations have a simple ``fibered" structure on each scale involved. We prove that this is true in a number of special cases, but false in general, even if further strong structural assumptions are added. Results of this type are expected to have a broad range of applications, including Favard length of product Cantor sets, Fuglede's spectral set conjecture, and the Coven-Meyerowitz conjecture on integer tilings.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2507.11672,
  title  = {Lower bounds for mask polynomials with many cyclotomic divisors},
  author = {Gergely Kiss and Izabella Łaba and Caleb Marshall and Gábor Somlai},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.11672},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Minor revisions, update of author information; accepted for publication by Advances in Mathematics

R2 v1 2026-07-01T04:03:07.448Z