# Arithmetic progressions of length 3 in subset of Z_n of size n^d

Let $A\subset\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$ such that: $|A|>n^{d}$ ($0< d <1$).

Let $C=\{(x,y,2y-x)\in A\times A \times A\}$ be the set of $3$-term arithmetic progressions within $A$.

[The original version asked about $x+y \in A$, settled by the example of Anthony Quas.]

I need to prove (or refute) that there exists a lower bound $u(n)$ on $\frac{|C|}{|A|}$ such that

$$\lim_{n\rightarrow\infty}\frac{\log(u(n))}{\log(n)}>0.$$

thanks to the helpers

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With your corrected question you are asking, in a strange way, for the number of arithmetic progressions of length 3 in A. There is a well-known example of Behrend of a set of size $n/\exp(c\sqrt{\log n})$ that contains no non-degenerate APs of length 3. So the answer to your question is no.

Edit: now that you have rephrased your question explicitly to be about arithmetic progressions of length 3, the words "in a strange way" no longer apply above. Indeed, the whole of the first sentence is rendered redundant (but I'll leave it there for the historical record).

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If $A$ is the set of odd numbers up to $n/2$ then $C$ is empty.
$A = [\lfloor n/3 \rfloor+1,\lfloor 2n/3 \rfloor]$ also works for the original problem. –  Douglas Zare Jun 20 '11 at 2:43