Ubiquity of simplices in subsets of vector spaces over finite fields (Q949887)

Let \(V\) be a \(d\)-dimensional vector space over a finite field \(\mathbb F_q\) with odd characteristic. A \(k\)-simplex is a set comprising \((k+1)\) points in \(V\) arranged in such a way that for any \(n\leq k\), no \((n+1)\) of the points lie in a subspace of dimension \((n-1)\). In this paper it is shown that for \(d>\binom{k+1}{2}\) any subset with at least \(Cq^{kd/(k+1)}q^{k/2}\) elements for some sufficiently large \(C\) must contain an isometric copy of every \(k\)-simplex. The proof uses Fourier analysis and Weil estimates for Kloosterman sums. This may be viewed as a finite field analogue of a result due to \textit{J.~Bourgain} [Isr. J. Math. 54, 307-316 (1986; Zbl 0609.10043)]; in the finite field version the hypothesis of positive density can be replaced by a weaker assumption on the cardinality of the set.