Arcs in F_q^2

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Publication:2136192




Abstract: An arc is a subset of mathbbFq2 which does not contain any collinear triples. Let A(q,k) denote the number of arcs in mathbbFq2 with cardinality k. This paper is primarily concerned with estimating the size of A(q,k) when k is relatively large, namely k=qt for some t>0. Trivial estimates tell us that [ {q choose k} leq A(q,k) leq {q^2 choose k}. ] We show that the behaviour of A(q,k) changes significantly close to t=1/2. Below this threshold an elementary argument is used to prove that the trivial upper bound above cannot be improved significantly. On the other hand, for tgeq1/2+delta, we use the theory of hypergraph containers to get an improved upper bound [ A(q,k) leq {q^{2-t+2delta} choose k}. ] This technique is also used to give an upper bound for the size of the largest arc in a random subset of mathbbFq2 which holds with high probability. For example, we prove that a p-random subset QsubsetmathbbFq2 with q3/2<p<q1 contains an arc of size Omega(q1/2) with high probability. The result is optimal for this range of p. Finally, this optimal bound for arcs in random sets is used to prove a finite field analogue of a result of Balogh and Solymosi, with a better exponent: there exists a subset PsubsetmathbbFq2 which does not contain any collinear quadruples, but with the property that for every PsubsetP with |P|geq|P|3/4+o(1), P contains a collinear triple.









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