Expanding polynomials: a generalization of the Elekes-Rónyai theorem to \(d\) variables (Q2658383)

Let \(f \in \mathbb{C}[x_1, \ldots, x_d]\) for some \(d \geq 3\) and assume that \(f\) depends non-trivially in each of \(x_1, \ldots, x_d\). Then one of the following holds. (i) For finite sets \(A_1, \ldots, A_d \subseteq \mathbb{C}\), each of size \(n\), we have \(\vert f(A_1 \times \ldots \times A_d)\vert = \Omega(n^{3/2})\), with constant of proportionality depending on \(\deg f\). (ii) \(f\) is one of the forms \(f(x_1, \ldots, x_d) = h(p_1(x_1) + \cdots + p_d(x_d))\) or \(f(x_1, \ldots, x_d) = h(p_1(x_1) \cdots p_d(x_d))\), for some univariate complex polynomials \(h(x), p_1(x), \ldots ,p_d(x)\). Moreover, if \(f\) is a real polynomial, then there exists \(h(x), p_1(x), \ldots ,p_d(x)\) with real coefficients. This main theorem generalizes previous results for the cases \(d=2\) and \(d=3\).