On the size of subsets of F_p^n without p distinct elements summing to zero

DOI10.1007/S11856-021-2145-XMaRDI QIDQ2048853zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Lisa Sauermann

Publication date 24 August 2021

Published in Israel Journal of Mathematics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.09560

zbMATH Keywords

Erdős-Ginzburg-Ziv problemmulti-colored sum-free theoremzero-sum subset

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Arithmetic combinatorics; higher degree uniformity (11B30)

Abstract: Let us fix a prime $p$. The ErdH{o}s-Ginzburg-Ziv problem asks for the minimum integer $s$ such that any collection of $s$ points in the lattice $mathbb{Z}^n$ contains $p$ points whose centroid is also a lattice point in $mathbb{Z}^n$. For large $n$, this is essentially equivalent to asking for the maximum size of a subset of $mathbb{F}_p^n$ without $p$ distinct elements summing to zero. In this paper, we give a new upper bound for this problem for any fixed prime $pgeq5$ and large $n$. In particular, we prove that any subset of $mathbb{F}_p^n$ without $p$ distinct elements summing to zero has size at most $C_{p}cdotleft(2sqrtpight{)}^n$, where $C_p$ is a constant only depending on $p$. For $p$ and $n$ going to infinity, our bound is of the form $p^{(1/2)cdot(1+o(1))n}$, whereas all previously known upper bounds were of the form $p^{(1-o(1))n}$ (with $p^n$ being a trivial bound). Our proof uses the so-called multi-colored sum-free theorem which is a consequence of the Croot-Lev-Pach polynomial method. This method and its consequences were already applied by Naslund as well as by Fox and the author to prove bounds for the problem studied in this paper. However, using some key new ideas, we significantly improve their bounds.

Review text

Let \(p\) be a prime. The Erdős-Ginzburg-Ziv problem asks for the minimum integer \(s\) such that any collection of \(s\) points in the lattice \(\mathbb{Z}_n\) contains \(p\) points whose centroid is also a lattice point in \(\mathbb{Z}_n\). For large \(n\), this is essentially equivalent to asking for the maximum size of a subset of \(\mathbb{F}_p^n\) without \(p\) distinct elements summing to zero. In this paper, the author give a new upper bound for this problem for any fixed prime \(p\geq 5\) and large \(n\). In particular, the author prove that any subset of \(\mathbb{F}_p^n\) without \(p\) distinct elements summing to zero has size at most \(C_p (2 \sqrt{p})^n\), where \(C_p\) is a constant only depending on \(p\). For \(p\) and \(n\) going to infinity, their bound is of the form \(p^{(1/2)\cdot (1+o(1))n}\), whereas all previously known upper bounds were of the form \(p^{(1-o(1))n}\) (with \(p^n\) being a trivial bound). The proof uses the so-called multi-colored sum-free theorem which is a consequence of the Croot-Lev-Pach polynomial method. This method and its consequences were already applied by Naslund as well as by Fox and Sauermann to prove bounds for the problem studied in this paper. However, using some key new ideas, the author significantly improve the previous bounds.

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Cited in

(11)

• Subsets without \(q\)-separation and binomial products of Fibonacci numbers
• The Erdős-Ginzburg-Ziv constant and progression-free subsets
• Polynomial equations in \(\mathbb{F}_q [t]\)
• A lower bound for the \(k\)-multicolored sum-free problem in \(\mathbb{Z}_m^n\)
• Finding solutions with distinct variables to systems of linear equations over \(\mathbb{F}_p\)
• Subsets of without L-shaped configurations
• Bounds on the higher degree Erdős-Ginzburg-Ziv constants over \({\mathbb{F}}_q^n\)
• On the size of subsets of \(\mathbb{F}_q^n\) avoiding solutions to linear systems with repeated columns
• On immanants of the Cayley table of finite abelian groups
• Partition rank and partition lattices
• On subsets of \(\mathbb F_q^n\) containing no \(k\)-term progressions

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