English

Uncommon linear systems of two equations

Combinatorics 2024-05-22 v2 Number Theory

Abstract

A system of linear equations LL is common over Fp\mathbb{F}_p if, as nn\to\infty, any 2-coloring of Fpn\mathbb{F}_p^n gives asymptotically at least as many monochromatic solutions to LL as a random 2-coloring. The notion of common linear systems is analogous to that of common graphs, i.e., graphs whose monochromatic density in 2-edge-coloring of cliques is asymptotically minimized by the random coloring. Saad and Wolf initiated a systematic study on identifying common linear systems, built upon the earlier work of Cameron-Cilleruelo-Serra. When LL is a single equation, Fox-Pham-Zhao gave a complete characterization of common linear equations. When LL consists of two equations, Kam\v{c}ev-Liebenau-Morrison showed that irredundant 2×42\times 4 linear systems are always uncommon. In this work, (1) we determine commonness of all 2×52\times 5 linear systems up to a small number of cases, and (2) we show that all 2×k2\times k linear systems with kk even and girth (minimum number of nonzero coefficients of a nonzero equation spanned by the system) k1k-1 are uncommon, answering a question of Kam\v{c}ev-Liebenau-Morrison.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2404.17005,
  title  = {Uncommon linear systems of two equations},
  author = {Dingding Dong and Anqi Li and Yufei Zhao},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.17005},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

59 pages, 1 figure

R2 v1 2026-06-28T16:07:02.756Z