On the number of solutions of a linear equation over finite sets (Q1269894)

The numbers \(c_i\neq 0\), \(i=1, \dots,k\), and \(\lambda\) are supposed to be fixed integers and the variables \(a_i\) range over finite sets \(A_i\), \(i=1, \dots,k\). It is proved that for fixed cardinalities \(n_i= | A_i|\) the number of solutions of \[ c_1a_1 +\cdots +c_k a_k =\lambda \] is maximal when \(c_1= \cdots= c_k=1\), \(\lambda =0\), and the \(A_i\) are arithmetic progressions balanced around 0 and with the same difference. A balanced set of consecutive integers is \(A= \{-\alpha,- \alpha+1,- \alpha+2, \dots,\alpha +\delta-1, \alpha+ \delta \}\) with \(\alpha\geq 0\) and \(\delta=0\) if \(| A|\) is odd and \(\delta=1\) or \(-1\) if \(| A |\) is even, and corresponding to a set of elements in arithmetic progression. Let \(\mathbb{F}_p\) be the set of residues modulo a prime \(p\); \(c_i\), \(\lambda\in \mathbb{F}_p\), \(A_i\subseteq \mathbb{F}_p\), \(i=1, \dots,k\). Then the number of solutions of the equation above does not exceed \[ {1 \over p} n_1\dots n_k+ \sqrt{{8 \over\pi}} {n_1\dots n_k\over\sqrt {n^2_1+ \cdots+n^2_k}} (1+o(1)) \] as \(k\to\infty\) and under some mild restrictions on the \(n_i\)'s.