English

The typical approximate structure of sets with bounded sumset

Combinatorics 2023-01-31 v2 Number Theory Probability

Abstract

Let A1A_1 and A2A_2 be randomly chosen subsets of the first nn integers of cardinalities s2s1=Ω(s2)s_2\geq s_1 = \Omega(s_2), such that their sumset A1+A2A_1+A_2 has size mm. We show that asymptotically almost surely A1A_1 and A2A_2 are almost fully contained in arithmetic progressions P1P_1 and P2P_2 with the same common difference and cardinalities approximately sim/(s1+s2)s_i m/(s_1+s_2). We also prove a counting theorem for such pairs of sets in arbitrary abelian groups. The results hold for si=ω(log3n)s_i = \omega(\log^3 n) and s1+s2m=o(s2/log3n)s_1+s_2 \leq m = o(s_2/\log^3 n). Our main tool is an asymmetric version of the method of hypergraph containers which was recently used by Campos to prove similar results in the special case A=BA=B.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2108.06253,
  title  = {The typical approximate structure of sets with bounded sumset},
  author = {Marcelo Campos and Matthew Coulson and Oriol Serra and Maximilian Wötzel},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2108.06253},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

a) Replaced Theorem 2.2 with a less general statement (proof of previously claimed result contained an error), no influence on the main results of this article. b) Incorporated numerous suggestions by anonymous referees to improve presentation, thank you!

R2 v1 2026-06-24T05:05:51.692Z