Questions tagged [additive-combinatorics]
Questions on the subject additive combinatorics, also known as arithmetic combinatorics, such as questions on: additive bases, sum sets, inverse sum set theorems, sets with small doubling, Sidon sets, Szemerédi's theorem and its ramifications, Gowers uniformity norms, etc. Often combined with the top-level tags nt.number-theory or co.combinatorics. Some additional tags are available for further specialization, including the tags sumsets and sidon-sets.
663
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Is the set $ AA+A $ always at least as large as $ A+A $?
Let $A$ be a finite set of real numbers. Is it always the case that $|AA+A| \geq |A+A|$?
My first instinct is that this is obviously true, and there is a one-line proof which I am foolishly ...
62
votes
5
answers
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Jean Bourgain's relatively lesser known significant contributions
Jean Bourgain passed away on December 22, 2018.
A great mathematician is no longer with us.
Terry Tao has blogged about Bourgain's death and mentioned some of his more recent significant contributions,...
58
votes
2
answers
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For a finite set A of positive reals, prove that the set A + A - A contains at least as many positive as negative elements
I am currently working on a proof that would need to use the following theorem that I cannot prove:
"Let $A$ be a finite set of positive real numbers. Then, the set $A + A - A$ contains at least ...
56
votes
3
answers
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Number of elements in the set $\{1,\cdots,n\}\cdot\{1,\cdots,n\}$
Let $A_n=\{a\cdot b : a,b \in \mathbb{N}, a,b\leq n\}$. Are there any estimates for $|A_n|$? Will it be $o(n^2)$?
49
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3
answers
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Is each squared finite group trivial?
A semigroup $S$ is defined to be squared if there exists a subset $A\subseteq S$ such that the function $A\times A\to S$, $(x,y)\mapsto xy$, is bijective.
Problem: Is each squared finite group ...
41
votes
4
answers
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Sets of unit fractions with sum $\leq 1$
Consider a set of fractions $\left\{1, \frac{1}{2}, \frac{1}{3}, \ldots, \frac{1}{n}\right\}$. How many subsets of this set have sum at most 1? I'm interested in the asymptotics of this number.
...
39
votes
2
answers
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Is number of different sums monotone?
Suppose you have a set $S$ consisting of $n$ different integers.
Let $$W_k = \#\biggl\{x\in\Bbb Z\colon \text{there exists } T \subseteq S,\, \#T=k,\, \sum_{a \in T} a = x\biggr\}.$$
My question is: ...
35
votes
3
answers
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Lagrange four squares theorem
Lagrange's four square theorem states that every non-negative integer is a sum of squares of four non-negative integers. Suppose $X$ is a subset of non-negative integers with the same property, that ...
35
votes
5
answers
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Cliques, Paley graphs and quadratic residues
A question I've thought about, on and off for a long time, is how to improve the best bounds that (seem to be) known for the clique numbers of Paley graphs.
If p=1 mod 4 is a prime, we can define the ...
31
votes
2
answers
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The Erdős-Turán conjecture or the Erdős' conjecture?
This has been bothering me for a while, and I can't seem to find any definitive answer. The following conjecture is well known in additive combinatorics:
Conjecture: If $A\subset \mathbb{N}$ and $$\...
28
votes
3
answers
871
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Ordering subsets of the cyclic group to give distinct partial sums
Suppose that you are given a set $S$ of $k$ nonzero elements from $\mathbb{Z}_n$. Is it always possible to order the elements of $S$, say $a_1,a_2,\dots,a_k$ in such a way that the partial sums $a_1,...
27
votes
1
answer
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Is every real number in [0,1] a product of three (or more) Cantor set's numbers?
It is well known that every number $x$ in the unit interval $[0,1]$ is the arithmetic mean of two elements of the (triadic) Cantor set $C$. The way to see it I like the most: the Cantor set is the ...
26
votes
2
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Partitions to different parts not exceeding $n$
Consider the polynomial $(1+x)(1+x^2)\dots (1+x^n)=1+x+\dots+x^{n(n+1)/2}$, which enumerates subj. How to prove that it's coefficients increase up to $x^{n(n+1)/4}$ (and hence decrease after this)? Or ...
26
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1
answer
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Monochromatic triangles in every two-coloring of the plane?
An old problem (possibly due to Erdős and Graham?): given a triangle $T$ and a two-coloring of the plane, does there necessary exist a monochromatic congruent copy of $T$? Here "monochromatic" means ...
26
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3
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long enough interval of integers to solve a simultaneous congruence
Let $a$, $b$ be two coprime natural numbers. Let $A \subseteq \{0,1,\ldots, a-1\}$ and $B \subseteq \{0,1,\ldots,b-1\}$ be two nonempty sets, which we think of as sets of residues mod $a$ and $b$ ...
26
votes
1
answer
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probability of zero subset sum
Almost 17 years ago, I asked the following question on USENET, motivated by a method in numerology (I kid you not).
Pick integers $n \ge 2$, $k \ge 1$. Toss $n$ $k$-sided dice. The sides of each die ...
26
votes
0
answers
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Which sets of roots of unity give a polynomial with nonnegative coefficients?
The question in brief: When does a subset $S$ of the complex $n$th roots of unity have the property that
$$\prod_{\alpha\, \in \,S} (z-\alpha)$$
gives a polynomial in $\mathbb R[z]$ with ...
24
votes
3
answers
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Are sets with similar asymptotic behavior as the primes necessarily finite additive bases?
The set of primes $\mathbb{P}$ has many interesting properties in additive number theory and some of the most famous open problems about $\mathbb{P}$ are the well-known Goldbach's strong and weak ...
24
votes
1
answer
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Arithmetic Progressions of Squares
Fermat may or may not have known that there are 3-term arithmetic progressions of squares (like $1^2, 5^2, 7^2$, and that there are no 4-term APs. Murky history aside, Keith Conrad has two pleasant ...
24
votes
2
answers
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EGZ theorem (Erdős-Ginzburg-Ziv)
Erdős, Ginzburg and Ziv prove the following:
Let $n \geq 1$ and $a_1,\ldots, a_{2n-1}\in \mathbb{Z}$. There exist distinct $i_1,\ldots , i_n$
such that
$$
a_{i_1} + \cdots + a_{i_n} \equiv 0 \pmod{n}....
23
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2
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What is the minimal density of a set A such that A+A = N?
Thinking about the four square theorem and related questions, I found myself wondering: What is the minimal density of a set $A \subset \{0, 1, 2, ... \}$ such that $A + A = \mathbb{N}$?
What I know:
...
23
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3
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How many different numbers can be obtained as product of first $n$ natural numbers?
Let m and n be natural numbers, and consider the set of all possible products of m (not necessarily distinct) elements from the set $\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$, that is consider the set
$\{1^{a_1} \cdot 2^{...
23
votes
4
answers
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What is the shortest route to Roth's theorem?
Roth first proved that any subset of the integers with positive density contains a three term arithmetic progression in 1953. Since then, many other proofs have emerged (I can think of eight off the ...
23
votes
1
answer
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integers which are sums of binomial coefficients: $\sum_i {n \choose k_i}$
Let $n$ be an integer. For $S$ a subset of $\{0,\dots,n\}$, define
$$m(S) = \sum_{k \in S} {n \choose k}.$$
Let $M_n$ be the set of integers of the form $m(S)$ for all sets $S \subset \{0,\dots,n\}$. ...
21
votes
1
answer
767
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Avoiding multiples of $p$
Let $p$ be a prime number and $P=\{1,2,...,p-1\}$
In how many ways we can sum all the elements of $P$ in such a way that we will reach a multiple of $p$
only when we sum the last summand?
For ...
21
votes
4
answers
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Arithmetic progressions inside polynomial sets
There are at most 3 perfect squares in arithmetic progression (Fermat, Euler). It was shown in [1] that if $n>2$ there are no three term arithmetic progression consisting of nth powers.
Take a non-...
20
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3
answers
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Size of set of integers with all sums of two distinct elements giving squares
Are there arbitrarily large sets $\mathcal S=\{a_1,\ldots,a_n\}$ of strictly positive integers such that all sums $a_i+a_j$ of two distinct elements in $\mathcal S$ are squares?
Considering subsets in ...
20
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3
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A sumset inequality
A friend asked me the following problem:
Is it true that for every $X\subset A\subset \mathbb{Z}$, where $A$ is finite and $X$ is non-empty, that $$\frac{|A+X|}{|X|}\geq \frac{|A+A|}{|A|}?$$
Here ...
19
votes
3
answers
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The sum of integers being a bijection
What are the pairs $(P,Q)$ of subsets of $\mathbb N$ for which the map
\begin{eqnarray*}
P\times Q & \rightarrow & {\mathbb N} \\\\
(p,q) & \mapsto & p+q
\end{eqnarray*}
is a bijection ...
19
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3
answers
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Can nonabelian groups be detected "locally"?
Suppose $m,n\geq 2$ are two integers. Is it true that for every sufficiently large nonabelian group $G$, one can find a set $A\subset G$, with $|A|=n$, so that $|A^m| >\binom{n+m-1}{m}$?
(Edit) ...
19
votes
4
answers
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Size of sets with complete double
Let $[n]$ denote the set $\{0,1,...,n\}$. A subset $S\subseteq [n]$ is said to have complete double if $S+S=[2n]$. Let $m(n)$ be the smallest size of a subset of $[n]$ with complete double. My ...
19
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3
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An “Average” Erdős–Turán conjecture
Right, so the Erdős–Turán conjecture for additive bases (of order 2) says, with the usual notations, that $\sup r_B (n) = \infty$. Let’s look instead at the average number of representations, i.e.: ...
18
votes
4
answers
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Number of vectors so that no two subset sums are equal
Consider all $10$-tuple vectors each element of which is either $1$ or $0$. It is very easy to select a set $v_1,\dots,v_{10}= S$ of $10$ such vectors so that no two distinct subsets of vectors $S_1 \...
18
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3
answers
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Decomposing a finite group as a product of subsets
My friend Wim van Dam asked me the following question:
For every finite group $G$, does there exist a subset $S\subset G$ such that $\left|S\right| = O(\sqrt{\left|G\right|})$ and $S\times S = G$? ...
18
votes
1
answer
572
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Characterizing the elements of $(A-A)/(A-A)$, where $A$ is a Cantor-like subset of the integers
Short version of my question: I'm interested in the following fact.
If $m,n$ are odd integers, then $m/n$ can be written as the ratio of two numbers of the form $\sum_{j=0}^\ell \epsilon_j 4^j$, ...
18
votes
1
answer
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Two conjectures about zero inner products and dissociated sets
The following problems come from something I worked on (with my coauthors) related to proving a new time lower bound for streaming problems. Having worked on these problems for some time with little ...
17
votes
3
answers
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Is there an "analytical" version of Tao's uncertainty principle?
Let $p$ be a prime. For $f: \mathbb{Z}/p \mathbb{Z} \rightarrow \mathbb{C}$ let its Fourier transform be:
$$\hat f(n) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{p}}\sum_{x \in \mathbb{Z}/p \mathbb{Z}} f(x)\, e\left(\frac{-xn}{...
17
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2
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A proof of Van der Waerden's theorem using a weakened form of Szemeredi's theorem
Van der Waerden's theorem states that any colouring of the integers in a finite number of colours has monochromatic arithmetic progressions of arbitrary length. Szemerédi's Theorem is a dramatic ...
17
votes
1
answer
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Combinatorics problem about sum of natural numbers
Following combinatorics problem is claimed to be an open problem in "The Princeton Companion to Mathematics" (pp. 6)
Let $a_1,a_2,a_3,...$ be a sequence of positive integers, and suppose that each $...
17
votes
1
answer
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Sum and product estimate over integers, rationals, and reals
My question is the following: is finding a lower bound for $|A+A\cdot A|$ (as a function of $|A|$) where $A$ is any finite subset of the positive integers equivalent to finding the same lower bound ...
16
votes
1
answer
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Where did the term "additive energy" originate?
A fundamental object in modern additive combinatorics and harmonic analysis is additive energy. Given a subset $A$ of (say) an abelian group $G$ the additive energy of $A$ is defined to be the ...
16
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2
answers
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Sets that are not sum of subsets
Let $\mathcal P$ be the set of finite subsets of $\mathbb Z_{\geq 0}$ , each of them contains $0$. We say that $A \in \mathcal P$ is indecomposable if it is not $B+C$ (the sum set of $B,C$) with $B,C\...
16
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2
answers
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Roth's theorem and Behrend's lower bound
Roth's theorem on 3-term arithmetic progressions (3AP) is concerned with the value of $r_3(N)$, which is defined as the cardinality of the largest subset of the integers between 1 and N with no non-...
16
votes
2
answers
956
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The Stable Set Conjecture
A set $\mathcal S$ of positive integers is called stable if for every fixed positive integer $d$, the relation
$$n\in \mathcal S \iff dn\in \mathcal S$$
holds for almost all positive integers $n$. ...
16
votes
1
answer
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views
Corners theorem in finite fields
The corners theorem of Ajtai and Szemerédi states that if $A\subseteq[N]^2$ is corner-free, i.e. there are no $x,y,h\in\mathbb{N}$ with all of $(x,y),(x+h,y),(x,y+h)$ in $A$, then $|A|=o(N^2)$. The ...
16
votes
1
answer
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Escaping from a centralizer
Let $G = Sym(n)$, $n$ even. Let $H<G$ be the stabilizer of the partition $\{\{1,2\},\{3,4\},\dotsc,\{n-1,n\}\}$, or, what is the same, the centralizer of $(1\;2) \dotsc (n-1\; n)$.
By Stirling's ...
15
votes
2
answers
712
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Subsets of $(\mathbb{Z}/p)^{\times n}$
There seems to be some combinatorial fact that every subset $A$ of $G=(\mathbb{Z}/p)^{\times n}$ of cardinality $\frac{p^n-1}{p-1}+1$ containing $\vec{0}$ satisfies $(p-1)A=G$. ($p$ is a prime number....
15
votes
1
answer
823
views
Goldbach-type theorems from dense models?
I'm not a number theorist, so apologies if this is trivial or obvious.
From what I understand of the results of Green-Tao-Ziegler on additive combinatorics in the primes, the main new technical tool ...
15
votes
1
answer
970
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Sets with both additive and multiplicative gaps
I feel that the following problem should have a clean and simple solution, but so far I couldn't find one.
Suppose that $p$ is a prime, and that $A\subseteq\mathbb Z/p\mathbb Z$ is a set such that
...
15
votes
4
answers
571
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Are all partial consecutive harmonic subsums distinct?
Let $b \gt a \geq 0$ be integers, and as elsewhere let $H_n$ be $\sum^n_{i=1} 1/i$. A partial consecutive harmonic subsum is a number $H(a,b)$ of the form $H_b - H_a$ (with $ H_0=0$). If $c=a$ and $...