Approximate arithmetic structure in large sets of integers (Q2054557)

The main result of this paper is the following: Suppose \(A\subset\mathbb{N}\) is such that there exists a constant \(\gamma > 0\) so that \[ \# A\cap [0,n] \geq \frac{n}{(\log n)^\gamma} \] for infinitely many \(n\). (Here, the symbol \(\#\) is used to denote the cardinality of a finite set.) Then, for all \(\alpha\in (0,1)\), \(k\geq 1\), and \(\Delta_0 > 1\), there exists infinitely many arithmetic progressions \(P\) of length \(k\) and gap length \(\Delta\geq\Delta_0\) such that \[ \sup_{p\in P}\,\inf_{a\in A} |p - a| \leq \Delta^\alpha. \] Moreover, there is a constant \(c>0\) depending only on \(\alpha\) and \(\gamma\), such that for infinitely many \(n\in \mathbb{N}\), \(P\) can be chosen to have gap length at least \(c\, n\) and lie in the interval \([2^n, 2^{n+1}]\).