Questions tagged [sumsets]
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108 questions
3
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Prime gap distribution in residue classes and Goldbach-type conjectures
Update on 7/20/2020: It appears that conjecture A is not correct, you need more conditions for it to be true. See here (an answer to a previous MO question).
The general problem that I try to solve is ...
- 3,098
18
votes
4
answers
2k
views
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 \...
- 3,377
4
votes
1
answer
280
views
Unique representation and sumsets
Let $A$ be a finite, nonempty subset of an abelian group, and let $2A:=\{a+b\colon a,b\in A\}$ and $A-A:=\{a-b\colon a,b\in A\}$ denote the sumset and the difference set of $A$, respectively.
If ...
- 23k
1
vote
1
answer
218
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Average size of iterated sumset modulo $p-1$,
Given a prime $p$, what is the average size of the iterated sumset, $|kA|$, modulo $p-1$, with $p$ a prime, and $k$ given, with $A$ chosen at random?
You can pick any type of prime you like for $p$, ...
- 221
6
votes
1
answer
262
views
Is there some sort of formula for $\tau(S_n)$?
Let $G$ be a finite group. Define $\tau(G)$ as the minimal number, such that $\forall X \subset G$ if $|X| > \tau(G)$, then $XXX = \langle X \rangle$.
Is there some sort of formula for $\tau(S_n)$, ...
- 2,618
8
votes
2
answers
618
views
sum-sets in a finite field
Let $\mathbb{F}_p$ be a finite field, $A=\{a_1,\dots,a_k\}\subset\mathbb{F}_p^*$ a $k$-element set, for $k<p$. $\mathfrak{S}_k=$permutation gp.
Question. Is it true there is always a $\pi\in\...
- 43.2k
10
votes
1
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547
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what is the status of this problem? an equivalent formulation?
R. Guy, Unsolved problems in number theory, 3rd edition, Springer, 2004.
In this book, on page 167-168, Problem C5, Sums determining members of a set, discusses a question Leo Moser asked: suppose $X\...
- 43.2k
3
votes
0
answers
98
views
Origins of the ``baby Freiman'' theorem
It is a basic folklore fact from the area of additive combinatorics that a subset $A$ of an abelian group satisfies $|2A|<\frac32\,|A|$ if and only if $A$ is contained in a coset of a (finite) ...
- 23k
20
votes
3
answers
1k
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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 ...
- 11.4k
26
votes
1
answer
786
views
Distribution of $a^2+\alpha b^2$
It is well known that size of the set of positive integers up to $n$ that can be written as $a^2+b^2$ is asymptotic to $C \frac{n}{\sqrt{\log n}}$. Here I'm interested mostly in the weaker fact that ...
- 1,235
10
votes
2
answers
641
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Sumsets and dilates: does $|A+\lambda A|<|A+A|$ ever hold?
The following problem is somehow hidden in this recently asked question, but I believe that it deserves to be asked explicitly.
Is it true that for any finite set $A$ of real numbers, and any real $...
- 23k
3
votes
2
answers
442
views
Sumsets with distinct numbers, upper bound for maximum element
Let $A$ be a finite set of positive natural numbers with $n$ elements, $|A|=n$, with the property that all sums of two (not necessarily different) elements are distinct, or in the usual notation for ...
- 133
3
votes
0
answers
133
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Is there some sort of formula for $t(S_n)$?
Let $G$ be a finite group. Define $t(G)$ as the minimal number, such that $\forall X \subset G$ if $|X| > t(G)$ and $\langle X \rangle = G$, then $XXX = G$.
Is there some sort of formula for $t(S_n)...
- 2,618
5
votes
2
answers
550
views
Can you simplify (or approximate) $\sum_{n=0}^{N-1} \binom{N-1}n \frac{(-1)^n}{n+1} e^{-\frac{n}{2(n+1)}\lambda}$?
Let $\binom x y$ be the binomial coefficient. I am trying to get a better understanding of the sum
$$
f(N,\lambda)=\sum_{n=0}^{N-1}\binom{N-1}n\frac{(-1)^n}{n+1} e^{-\frac{n}{2(n+1)}\lambda}
$$
as a ...
- 345
2
votes
0
answers
230
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Generating Subsets of a Multiset in Ascending Order of the Sums of the Elements of the Subset
I am trying to come up with an algorithm where you can generate combination from a set in a order such that their sums are in increasing order. This set has to be a multiset i.e. repetition allowed.
...
- 21
2
votes
4
answers
653
views
Show that the Minkowski sum of two triangles in 3D is the union of Minkowski sums of each triangle along the other's edges?
I'd like to show (or disprove) the claim that the Minkowski sum of two triangles with vertices in $\mathbb{R}^3$, $A+B$, is equal to the union of the unions of the Minkowski sums of $A$ along all ...
- 723
3
votes
1
answer
146
views
Bounding the size of certain sumsets in the plane
Let $A$ be a finite set in $\mathbb{R}^2$ of $k^2$ elements and consider a set $B=\{x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4\}$ such that the points in $B$ are in general position (no three points on a line).
Question 1: Is ...
- 2,288
3
votes
1
answer
251
views
Are there unique additive decompositions of the reals?
Given $b\in \mathbb{R}_{>1}$ is there $U\subseteq\mathbb{R}_{\ge 0}$ such that $U+bU=\mathbb{R}_{\ge 0}$ and $(U-U)\cap b(U-U)=\{0\}$ (or equivalently: $u+bv=u'+bv' \implies u=u', v=v'$)?
Here is ...
- 5,103
8
votes
1
answer
723
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Does $|A+A|$ concentrate near its mean?
Fix $N$ to be a large prime. Let $A \subset \mathbb{Z}/N\mathbb{Z}$ be a random subset defined by $\mathbb{P}(a \in A) = p$, where $p = N^{-2/3 + \epsilon}$ for some fixed $\epsilon > 0$. My ...
- 2,283
3
votes
3
answers
498
views
How to find an integer set, s.t. the sums of at most 3 elements are all distinct?
How to find a set $A \subset \mathbb{N}$ such that any sum of at most three Elements $a_i \in A$ is different if at least one element in the sum is different.
Example with $|A|=3$: Out of the set $A :...
- 71
3
votes
1
answer
246
views
Limit measuring failure of sum-set cancellability
Suppose $A$, $B$ are finite sets of positive integers.
Let $$\mathcal{S}_n = \{C \subset [1,n] \, : \, A+C = B+C \}, $$ and denote $a_n = |\mathcal{S}_n|$.
Note that for any $X \in \mathcal{S}_n$ ...
- 265
4
votes
2
answers
427
views
How big must the sumset $A+A$ be if $A$ satisfies no translation-invariant equations of low height?
Suppose $A$ is a finite subset of an abelian group. If there is no solution to $ma+nb=(m+n)c$ with $0\leq m,n\leq M$, can we bound $|A+A|$ from below? I am interested if one can obtain bounds much ...
- 41
3
votes
1
answer
210
views
On a problem about $GF(2)^n$
For $A\subseteq {\mathbb F}_2^n$ let
$$
Q(A)=\{\alpha+\beta\mid \alpha,\beta \in A,\ \alpha\neq\beta \}.
$$
I want to prove or disprove that if $|A|=2^k+1$ for some integer $k$, then
$$
|Q(A)|\ge2^{k+...
- 197
3
votes
1
answer
220
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On particular sumset properties of permanent?
Denote $\mathcal R_2[n]=\mathcal R[n] + \mathcal R[n]$ to be sumset of integers in $\mathcal R[n]$ where $\mathcal R[n]$ to be set of permanents possible with permanents of $n\times n$ matrices with $...
- 13.9k
11
votes
1
answer
617
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Lower bounds for $|A+A|$ if $A$ contains only perfect squares
Let $A$ a set with $|A|=n$ that contains only perfect squares of integers.
What lower bounds can we give for $|A+A|$?
I think the lower bound $\gg \frac{n^2}{\sqrt{log \,n}}$ holds (this would be ...
- 1,235
4
votes
1
answer
156
views
$B_k[1]$ sets with smallest possible $m = \max B_k[1]$ for given $k$ and $n = \lvert B_k[1]\rvert$ elements
Sidon sets are sets $A \subset \mathbb{N}$ such that for all $a_j,b_j \in A$ holds
$$a_1+a_2=b_1+b_2 \iff \{a_1,a_2\}=\{b_1,b_2\}.$$
Thus if you know the sum of two elements, you know which elements ...
- 71
0
votes
0
answers
72
views
Rewriting a set of integers to get rid of repetition but keeping subset sum ordering
Say, I have a set of 6 +ve integers sorted in ascending order:
$A = \{2,4,4,4,5,7\}$
Now to make it easier to deal with (Minimum one starts with 1) I deducted one from all of them:
$\therefore B= ...
- 21
2
votes
0
answers
39
views
Weighted unrestricted Golomb rulers?
A set of integers
${\displaystyle A=\{a_{1},a_{2},...,a_{m}\}\quad a_{1}<a_{2}<...<a_{m}} $
is a Golomb ruler if and only if
${\displaystyle \forall i,j,k,l\in \left\{1,2,...,m\right\},a_{i}...
- 13.9k
14
votes
1
answer
633
views
Minimal "sumset basis" in the discrete linear space $\mathbb F_2^n$
For a set $C\subseteq \mathbb F_2^n$, let $2C=C+C:=\{\alpha+\beta\colon \alpha,\beta\in C\}$.
I want to find $C$ of the smallest possible size such that $2C=\mathbb F_2^n$. Let $m(n)$ be the size of a ...
- 197
3
votes
1
answer
635
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Additive set with small sum set and large difference set
I have a question!
Can someone explain how (the intuition, method?) one can try to construct an additive set of cardinality $N$ with a small sum set (around $N$) and a very large difference set (say,...
- 39
2
votes
1
answer
554
views
Asymptotic of a sum involving binomial coefficients
Good evening, I'm trying to find an asymptotic of this sum:
$$\sum_{j=0}^n (-1)^j {n \choose j} (n - j)^n = n^n - {n \choose 1} (n - 1)^n + {n \choose 2} (n - 2)^n + ... + (-1)^n {n \choose n} (n - ...
- 41
10
votes
2
answers
445
views
Iterated sumset inequalities in cancellative semigroups
This question is motivated by the following well-known theorems:
Thm (Plünnecke): If $A$ is a finite nonempty subset of an abelian group, then for every $n$ we have $|A^n| \le \frac{|AA|^n}{|A|^n}|A|$...
- 8,820
3
votes
2
answers
316
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Partition regular systems: do they have solution in (very dense) set of integers?
A partition regular system is a linear system of equations of the form $A\cdot x=0$, which satisfies a Ramsey-type result (namely, that for each $r>0$ whenever we colour the integers in $r$ classes,...
- 1,561
8
votes
1
answer
326
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Sumsets and a bound
Let $q$ be a positive integer. Is it true there exists a constant $C_q$ such that the following inequality holds for any finite set $A$ of reals:
$$\displaystyle |A+qA|\ge (q+1)|A|-C_q\qquad (1)$$
I ...
- 1,090
1
vote
1
answer
206
views
Some question on haar measure for sumsets of closed subsets of profinite groups
Let $H$ be a profinite group with the haar measure $\mu_H$. Let $H_1$ and $H_2$ be closed subgroups of $H$. $H_1$ and $H_2$ have their own haar measures $\mu_{H_1}$ and $\mu_{H_2}$ respectively.
...
- 11
4
votes
0
answers
150
views
Dividing a finite arithmetic progression into two sets of same sum: always the same asymptotics?
This is inspired by the recent question How many solutions $\pm1\pm2\pm3…\pm n=0$.
The oeis entries A063865 linked to this question and A292476/A156700 for the related one "How many solutions $\pm1\...
- 13.4k
12
votes
1
answer
353
views
Number of orders of $k$-sums of $n$-numbers
Suppose we have a $n$-element set $S$. Denote the set of its $k$-element subsets by $K$ ($|K|=\binom{n}{k}$).
If the elements of $S$ are real numbers then to each $k$-element subset we can associate ...
- 1,431
2
votes
1
answer
205
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When does the equality hold in Dias da Silva - Hamidoune Theorem?
Let $p$ be prime number and let $A$ be a $k$-elements subset of $\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}$. Dias da Silva - Hamidoune Theorem states that $|h^{\hat{}}A| \geq \min(p, hk -h^2 + 1)$, where $h$ is an ...
- 167
5
votes
1
answer
279
views
Element with unique representation in A+B
Let $A, B \subseteq \mathbb{Z}$ be finite subsets of the integers. Then there exists an element in $A+B$ with a unique representation as a sum of an element in $A$ and an element in $B$, namely $\max(...
- 83
2
votes
0
answers
137
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The set of lengths of $nX$ gets larger and larger for every non-zero, non-empty, finite $X \subseteq \mathbf N$ with $0 \in X$
Let $H$ be a multiplicatively written monoid with identity $1_H$. Given $x \in H$, we take ${\sf L}_H(x) := \{0\}$ if $x = 1_H$; otherwise, ${\sf L}_H(x)$ is the set of all $k \in \mathbf N^+$ for ...
- 10.5k
1
vote
1
answer
189
views
Sumset achieving extreme upper bound [closed]
It is trivial that $|A_1 + \cdots + A_h| \leq |A_1|\cdots |A_h|$, where $h \geq 2$ and $A_i \subseteq \mathbb{Z}$ are nonempty finite sets and $A_1 + \cdots + A_h :=\{a_1 + \cdots + a_h : a_i \in A_i ~...
- 167
8
votes
2
answers
797
views
A sum-product estimate in Z/p^2Z
We are interested in a sum-product type estimate. Let $p$ be an odd prime, and let $A$ be the order $p-1$ subgroup of $(\mathbb{Z}/p^2\mathbb{Z})^\times$. That is, let $A = \langle g^p \rangle$, where ...
- 165
6
votes
1
answer
444
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A problem related with 'Postage stamp problem'
A friend of mine taught me this question. I found that it is related with 'Postage stamp problem' (though it does not seem to be same).
Let $m,a_1\lt a_2\lt \cdots\lt a_n$ be natural numbers. Now let ...
- 4,757
0
votes
1
answer
239
views
Set of number with unique sums of elements [closed]
Is it possible to construct a set of numbers of arbitrary size such that any calculation involving addition and subtraction, on any combination of those numbers, produces a unique result?
For example,...
- 111
1
vote
0
answers
120
views
Lower bound for sumset in discrete cube
Suppose $A\subset\{0,1\}^d$ for some $d\geq 1$. Then how large must $A+A=\{a+b:a,b\in A\}$ be?
0
votes
1
answer
206
views
determine elements of a sum given set
Is it possible to efficiently find the elements that make up a sum $S$ given a set of number sets which determine the sum elements? It seems like an NP-Complete problem, though I might miss something.
...
- 1
5
votes
2
answers
517
views
Anticoncentration of the convolution of two characteristic functions
Edit: This is a question related to my other post, stated in a much more concrete way I think.
I am interested in anything (ideas, references) related to the following problem:
Suppose that $A \...
- 696
15
votes
1
answer
717
views
The hypercube: $|A {\stackrel2+} E| \ge |A|$?
I have a good motivation to ask the question below, but since the post is
already a little long, and the problem looks rather natural and appealing
(well, to me, at least), I'd rather go straight to ...
- 23k
4
votes
0
answers
127
views
Restricted addition analogue of Freiman's $(3n-4)$-theorem
There is a well-known theorem of Freiman saying that if $A$ is a finite set of integers with $|2A| \le 3|A|-4$, then $A$ is contained in an arithmetic progression with at most $|2A|-|A|+1$ terms. Is ...
- 41
3
votes
0
answers
65
views
What's known about $X$ when $|X(n) + X(n)| < kn$, $n \in \mathbb{N}$, absolute constant $k$?
Let $X$ be an infinite sequence of integers$$x_1 < x_2 < x_3 < \ldots,$$and let $X(n)$ be the set$$\{x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n\}.$$
Question. What is known about $X$ when we have$$|X(n) + X(n)| &...
- 31