Existence conditions for barycentric sequences. (Q1827708)

Let \(A\) be a finite set with \(|A|\geq 2\) and \(G\) an Abelian group. A sequence \(f\colon A\to G\) is `barycentric' if there exists \(a\in A\) such that \(\sum_Af=|A|f(a)\). When \(|A|=k\) this is called `\(k\)-barycentric sequence', and when \(f\) is injective, `barycentric set' is used. In this paper conditions to ensure the existence of \(k\)-barycentric sequences are given in terms of the size of the image of \(f\) in \(G\) or prescribing a length for these sequences. Here is a sample: Theorem 8. Let \(s\geq 2\), \(p\geq 7\) (a prime number) and \(A\) a set with \(s+2\) elements. If \(f\colon A\to\mathbb{Z}_p\) is a sequence with \(|f(A)|=(p+3)/2\), then \(f\) contains an \(s\)-barycentric subsequence. The barycentric Davenport and strong Davenport constants are defined in this context; upper bounds for these are established.