On a question of Alon

Publication date 24 October 2022

Arithmetic combinatorics; higher degree uniformity (11B30)

Abstract: A system of linear equations in

m a t h b b F_{p}^{n}

is extit{common} if every two-colouring of

m a t h b b F_{p}^{n}

yields at least as many monochromatic solutions as a random two-colouring, asymptotically as

n o i n f t y

. By analogy to the graph-theoretic setting, Alon has asked whether any (non-Sidorenko) system of linear equations can be made uncommon by adding sufficiently many free variables. Fox, Pham and Zhao answered this question in the affirmative among systems which consist of a single equation. We answer Alon's question in the negative. We also observe that the property of remaining common despite that addition of arbitrarily many free variables is closely related to a notion of commonness in which one replaces the arithmetic mean of the number of monochromatic solutions with the geometric mean, and furthermore resolve questions of Kamv{c}ev--Liebenau--Morrison.

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