English

When almost all sets are difference dominated in $\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$

Number Theory 2017-08-29 v2 Probability

Abstract

We investigate the behavior of the sum and difference sets of AZ/nZA \subseteq \mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z} chosen independently and randomly according to a binomial parameter p(n)=o(1)p(n) = o(1). We show that for rapidly decaying p(n)p(n), AA is almost surely difference-dominated as nn \to \infty, but for slowly decaying p(n)p(n), AA is almost surely balanced as nn \to \infty, with a continuous phase transition as p(n)p(n) crosses a critical threshold. Specifically, we show that if p(n)=o(n1/2)p(n) = o(n^{-1/2}), then AA/A+A|A-A|/|A+A| converges to 22 almost surely as nn \to \infty and if p(n)=cn1/2p(n) = c \cdot n^{-1/2}, then AA/A+A|A-A|/|A+A| converges to 1+exp(c2/2)1+\exp(-c^2/2) almost surely as nn \to \infty. In these cases, we modify the arguments of Hegarty and Miller on subsets of Z\mathbb{Z} to prove our results. When lognn1/2=o(p(n))\sqrt{\log n} \cdot n^{-1/2} = o(p(n)), we prove that AA=A+A=n|A-A| = |A+A| = n almost surely as nn \to \infty if some additional restrictions are placed on nn. In this case, the behavior is drastically different from that of subsets of Z\mathbb{Z} and new technical issues arise, so a novel approach is needed. When n1/2=o(p(n))n^{-1/2} = o(p(n)) and p(n)=o(lognn1/2)p(n) = o(\sqrt{ \log n} \cdot n^{-1/2}), the behavior of A+A|A+A| and AA|A-A| is markedly different and suggests an avenue for further study. These results establish a "correspondence principle" with the existing results of Hegarty, Miller, and Vissuet. As p(n)p(n) decays more rapidly, the behavior of subsets of Z/nZ\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z} approaches the behavior of subsets of Z\mathbb{Z} shown by Hegarty and Miller. Moreover, as p(n)p(n) decays more slowly, the behavior of subsets of Z/nZ\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z} approaches the behavior shown by Miller and Vissuet in the case where p(n)=1/2p(n) = 1/2.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1608.03209,
  title  = {When almost all sets are difference dominated in $\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$},
  author = {Anand Hemmady and Adam Lott and Steven J. Miller},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1608.03209},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

Version 2.0, 13 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-22T15:16:58.147Z