Small-sum pairs for upper Banach density in countable abelian groups (Q2437501): Difference between revisions

Let \(\Gamma\) be a countable abelian group with upper Banach density \(d^*\). For two non-empty subsets \(A,B\) of \(\Gamma\), if \(d^*(A+B)<d^*(A)+d^*(B)\), then \((A,B)\) is called a critical pair, where \[ A+B=\{a+b:\,a\in A,\;b\in B\}. \] In this paper, the author proved that if \((A,B)\) is a critical pair, then there is a subgroup \(\Lambda\) of \(\Gamma\) with a finite index such that \[ d^*(A+B)=d^*(A+B+\Lambda) \] and \[ d^*(A+B)=d^*(A+\Lambda)+d^*(B+\Lambda)-d^*(\Lambda). \] Furthermore, when \(\Gamma={\mathbb Z}^d\), some more precise results on the critical pair \((A,B)\) can be obtained. The author also considered the similar problem for the sur-critical pair \((A,B)\), which satisfies \(d^*(A+B)=d^*(A)+d^*(B)\).