On sum-product representation in \(\mathbb Z_q\) (Q874823)

The author investigates representations of the residue classes modulo \(q\), by performing sum and product set operations starting from a given subset \(A\) of \(\mathbb{Z}_q\). She considers the case of very small sets \(A\) and composite \(q\) for which not much has been known so far. Her work is motivated by the recent line of research on sum-product estimates and their applications to exponential sums over finite fields (cf. \textit{J. Bourgain, N. Katz} and \textit{T. Tao} [Geom. Funct. Anal. 14, No. 1, 27--57 (2004; Zbl 1145.11306)], for example). In the following, consider a subset \(H\subset \mathbb{Z}^*_q\) such that \(| \pi_p(H)| >1\) for all prime divisors \(p| q\), where \(\pi_p\) denotes the quotient map modulo \(p\). Let \(kH\) be the \(k\)-fold sum set, and \(H^r\) be the \(r\)-fold product set of \(H\). The author's main result is the following: Theorem A. There is a function \(\kappa'=\kappa'(\kappa,M)\) such that \(\kappa'\rightarrow 0\) if \(\kappa\rightarrow 0\) and \(M\rightarrow \infty\), with the following property: Let \(q\in \mathbb{N}\) be odd and \(H\subset \mathbb{Z}^*_q\) such that \(| \pi_p(M)| >1\) for all prime divisors \(p\) of \(q\), and \(| \pi_{q'}(H)| >M\) for all divisors \(q'| q\) with \(q'>q^{\kappa}\). Then \(\mathbb{Z}_q=kH^r\) with \(k<q^{\kappa'}\) and \(r<\kappa'\log q\). By providing an example, the author demonstrates that the above bounds \(k<q^{\kappa'}\) and \(r<\kappa'\log q\) are essentially optimal. The author also obtains a new result for subsets \(A\subset \mathbb{Z}_p\) with \(p\) prime. By employing the argument used to prove Theorem A, she establishes a lower bound for the size of \(A+\theta A\), where \(\theta\in \mathbb{Z}_p\) is not a root of any polynomial in \(\mathbb{Z}_p[x]\) of degree at most \(K\) and coefficients bounded by \(K\) (as integers). A similar result for fields of characteristic 0 is due to \textit{S. Konyagin} and \textit{I. Łaba} [''Distance sets of well-distributed planar sets for polygonal norms'', Isr. J. Math. 152, 157--179 (2006; Zbl 1127.52021)]. Moreover, the author obtains the following bound for exponential sums over subgroups of \(\mathbb{Z}_q^*\), which is new in the case when \(q\) is composite. Theorem C. Let \(H<\mathbb{Z}^*_q\) and assume \(| H| \geq M>1\). Then \[ \max\limits_{(a,q)=1} \left| \sum\limits_{x\in H} e_q(ax) \right| < | H| -cq^{-\delta(M)}, \] where \(\delta(M)\rightarrow 0\) as \(M\rightarrow \infty\) (independently of \(q\)). The novelty of this paper is two-fold: Firstly, so far, not much has been known for the case of very small subsets \(A\subset \mathbb{Z}_q\) and composite moduli \(q\). Secondly, the author's approach is new. She explores the celebrated theorem of Freiman which provides a very specific description of subsets of a torsion-free Abelian group with small sumset.