Questions tagged [sumsets]

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22 votes
2 answers
3k views

What is the minimal density of a set A such that A+A = N?

Thinking about the four square theorem and related questions, I found myself wondering: What is the minimal density of a set $A \subset \{0, 1, 2, ... \}$ such that $A + A = \mathbb{N}$? What I know: ...
0 votes
1 answer
246 views

Khovanskii's theorem on iterated sumsets

I was watching Gowers video lectures "Introduction to Additive Combinatorics" (my question is about the statement he made at the 21st minute) and came across wonderful theorem due to ...
5 votes
1 answer
816 views

Estimate of Minkowski sum

Let A $\subset [0:2]^n$, where $[0:2]=\{0,1,2\}$, then define $2A= \{ a+b\mid a,b \in A \}$. I wanted to know the best known lower-bound estimates for $|2A|$. I intuitively expect that $|2A| \geq |A|^{...
15 votes
2 answers
696 views

Subsets of $(\mathbb{Z}/p)^{\times n}$

There seems to be some combinatorial fact that every subset $A$ of $G=(\mathbb{Z}/p)^{\times n}$ of cardinality $\frac{p^n-1}{p-1}+1$ containing $\vec{0}$ satisfies $(p-1)A=G$. ($p$ is a prime number....
2 votes
0 answers
163 views

Component-wise sums of permutations

Given a set $S$ containing all possible permutations of a vector $v = (1, 2, 3, ..., n-1, n)$, find the size of the set $P$, where $P$ is defined as the set of possible component-wise sums obtained by ...
11 votes
2 answers
652 views

$\mathbb Z/p\mathbb Z=A\cup(A-A)$?

$\newcommand{\Z}{\mathbb Z/p\mathbb Z}$ Can one partition a group of prime order as $A\cup(A-A)$ where $A$ is a subset of the group, $A-A$ is the set of all differences $a'-a''$ with $a',a''\in A$, ...
0 votes
0 answers
64 views

Bounds on these numbers

Let $[n]$ be the set of natural numbers $1,2,3 \cdots n$ and $k$ be a natural number. Define $S(n,k) = \# \{ A \subset [n] \mid \displaystyle\sum_{i \in A} i =k \}$. My question is; Are there any ...
5 votes
2 answers
225 views

Progressions in sumset or complement

Fix $\epsilon>0$. For all large $N$, does there exist $A\subset [N]:=\{1,\dots,N\}$ such that both $A+A$ and $A^c:=[N]\setminus A$ lack arithmetic progressions of length $N^\epsilon$? I am aware ...
0 votes
0 answers
56 views

How large must "weak Besicovitch" subsets of groups be?

Consider a group $G$; let call $A\subset G$ a weak Besicovitch subset whenever every element of $G$ can be written under the form $gh^{-1}$, where $g,h\in A$. General question: how large must a weak ...
9 votes
0 answers
262 views

If $A+A+A$ contains the extremes, does it contain the middle?

Let $b \ge 1$ and $A\subseteq [0,b]$ be a set of integers (all intervals will be of integers). Write $hA := \underbrace{A + \ldots + A}_{h\text{ summands}} = \{ \sum_{i=1}^h a_i ~|~a_i \in A,\, \...
2 votes
1 answer
245 views

Different sum combinations of $L$ identical lists of consecutive natural numbers

Given $L$ variables $k_i$ where each $k_{i} \in \{1, 2, 3, \ldots, N\}$ I want to obtain how many different sums $k_{1}+k_{2}+\cdots+k_{L}$ are generated and the value of these sums. There are $L^N$ ...
3 votes
2 answers
333 views

Sumsets with the property "$A+B=C$ implies $A=C-B$"

Let $(G,+)$ be an abelian group and $A$, $B$ and $C$ be finite subsets of $G$ with $A+B=C$. One may conclude that $A\subset C-B$. However, $A$ need not be equal to $C-B$. What is a necessary and ...
0 votes
0 answers
152 views

General asymptotic result in additive combinatorics (sums of sets)

Let $S_1,\cdots,S_k$ be $k$ infinite sets of positive integers. Let $N_i(z)$ be the numbers of elements in $S_i$ that are less or equal to $z$. Let us further assume that $$N_i(S) \sim \frac{a_i z^{...
4 votes
2 answers
226 views

Existence of m infinite subsets in an arbitrary group such that all products of one element from each (in order) are distinct

Is it true that for every infinite group $G$ and every $m\in\mathbb{N}$ there are infinite subsets $A_0,\dots,A_{m-1}$ such that all the products $a_0\cdot\dots\cdot a_{m-1}$ with $a_i\in A_i$ are ...
0 votes
0 answers
118 views

An exercise about sum-product estimate

I am struggling with 1.11 exercise from the George Shakan "Discrete Fourier Transform". Let $A \subset \mathbb{Z}/q\mathbb{Z}$ be any set not containing zero with $|A|>\sqrt2q^{5/8}$. ...
2 votes
0 answers
111 views

Restricted sumsets - the origins?

The sumset of the subsets $A$ and $B$ of an additively written group is defined by $A+B:=\{a+b\colon a\in A,\ b\in B\}$. The basic idea to add sets has been around since Cauchy at least. Erdős and ...
0 votes
0 answers
119 views

Additive energy and uniquely representable elements

Suppose that $A$ is a finite, nonempty set in an abelian group. If there is a group element with a unique representation as $a-b$ with $a,b\in A$, then none of $A-A$ and $2A$ are small: $$ \min\{|A-A|,...
4 votes
1 answer
146 views

$B_k[1]$ sets with smallest possible $m = \max B_k[1]$ for given $k$ and $n = \lvert B_k[1]\rvert$ elements

Sidon sets are sets $A \subset \mathbb{N}$ such that for all $a_j,b_j \in A$ holds $$a_1+a_2=b_1+b_2 \iff \{a_1,a_2\}=\{b_1,b_2\}.$$ Thus if you know the sum of two elements, you know which elements ...
0 votes
1 answer
198 views

Controlling iterated sum sets of "most" of $A+B$

I am reading Tao-Vu book on Additive combinatorics and came across the following lemma. I know that it is better to ask this question on MathStack but I asked few questions before and no one answered ...
16 votes
2 answers
2k views

Sets that are not sum of subsets

Let $\mathcal P$ be the set of finite subsets of $\mathbb Z_{\geq 0}$ , each of them contains $0$. We say that $A \in \mathcal P$ is indecomposable if it is not $B+C$ (the sum set of $B,C$) with $B,C\...
2 votes
1 answer
398 views

Rank of sumsets in matroids

Assume that $G$ is a (finite) abelian group and $M$ is a matroid whose ground set is $G$. Let $X$ and $Y$ be subsets of $G$, and $H$ is the stabilizer of $X+Y$. That is $X+Y+H=X+Y$. We denote the rank ...
15 votes
1 answer
789 views

Explicit constant in Green/Tao's version of Freiman's Theorem?

Green and Tao's version of Freiman's theorem over finite fields (doi:10.1017/S0963548309009821) is as follows: If $A$ is a set in $\mathbb{F}_2^n$ for which $|A+A| \leqslant K|A|$, then $A$ is ...
1 vote
1 answer
184 views

An intriguing inverse sumset problem

Start with a natural number $k$, and choose natural numbers $K=\{n_1,\ldots,n_k\}$ which are pairwise distinct. For each $1\leq j\leq k$, choose another integer $i_j$ such that $0\leq i_j\leq n_j$. ...
7 votes
1 answer
192 views

Trisecting $3$-fold sumsets, II: is the middle part ever thin?

This is a refined version of the question I asked yesterday. Let $A$ be a finite set of integers with the smallest element $0$ and the largest element $l$. The sumset $C:=3A$ resides in the interval $[...
6 votes
1 answer
154 views

Trisecting $3$-fold sumsets: is the middle part always thick?

Here is a truly minimalistic and seemingly basic question which should have a simple solution (I hope it does). Let $A$ be a finite set of integers with the smallest element $0$ and the largest ...
19 votes
4 answers
851 views

Size of sets with complete double

Let $[n]$ denote the set $\{0,1,...,n\}$. A subset $S\subseteq [n]$ is said to have complete double if $S+S=[2n]$. Let $m(n)$ be the smallest size of a subset of $[n]$ with complete double. My ...
3 votes
3 answers
722 views

Is the sumset or the sumset of the square set always large?

Let A be a finite subset of $\mathbb{N}$, $\mathbb{R}$, or a sufficiently small subset of $\mathbb{F}_{p}$. Do we have a lower bound of the form $|A|^{1+\delta}$ on the following quantity: $$\max (|\...
2 votes
1 answer
134 views

Equal subset-sums of bounded vectors

Let $S\subseteq \{0,\ldots,n\}^d$ be a set of $d$-dimensional vectors of with bounded, natural, coordinates. We are given that $$v'+v_1+\ldots+v_t=u'+u_1+\ldots+u_s$$ where $v_1,\ldots,v_t,u_1,\ldots,...
1 vote
1 answer
218 views

Probability of getting two subsets with the same sum

Let $A=\{1,...,n\}$. Two subsets of $A$, not necessarily distinct, chosen uniformly at random. What is the probability that both subsets have the same sum? Alternatively, is there a known upper bound?
3 votes
0 answers
92 views

Origins of the ``baby Freiman'' theorem

It is a basic folklore fact from the area of additive combinatorics that a subset $A$ of an abelian group satisfies $|2A|<\frac32\,|A|$ if and only if $A$ is contained in a coset of a (finite) ...
3 votes
1 answer
324 views

Prime gap distribution in residue classes and Goldbach-type conjectures

Update on 7/20/2020: It appears that conjecture A is not correct, you need more conditions for it to be true. See here (an answer to a previous MO question). The general problem that I try to solve is ...
0 votes
1 answer
439 views

Congruential equidistribution, prime numbers, and Goldbach conjecture

Let $S$ be an infinite set of positive integers, $N_S(z)$ be the number of elements of $S$ less than or equal to $z$, and let $$D_S(z, n, p)= \sum_{k\in S,k\leq z}\chi(k\equiv p\bmod{n}).$$ Here $\chi$...
-2 votes
1 answer
652 views

Prove or disprove this integral of a function, defined on a countable set with infinite limit points, converges to zero [closed]

Edit: I got rid of my old definitions. Everything should be clear now Since no one has answered my question on MSE, I’m hoping to get an answer here. I apologize if you dislike my writing. I am an ...
1 vote
1 answer
205 views

Average size of iterated sumset modulo $p-1$,

Given a prime $p$, what is the average size of the iterated sumset, $|kA|$, modulo $p-1$, with $p$ a prime, and $k$ given, with $A$ chosen at random? You can pick any type of prime you like for $p$, ...
5 votes
1 answer
152 views

Computational version of inverse sumset question

Let $p$ be prime and $\mathbb{F}_p$ the finite field with $p$ elements. Suppose we have a set $B\subseteq \mathbb{F}_p$ satisfying $|B|<p^{\alpha}$ for some $0<\alpha<1$ and there exists $A\...
3 votes
1 answer
247 views

Unique representation and sumsets

Let $A$ be a finite, nonempty subset of an abelian group, and let $2A:=\{a+b\colon a,b\in A\}$ and $A-A:=\{a-b\colon a,b\in A\}$ denote the sumset and the difference set of $A$, respectively. If ...
1 vote
1 answer
298 views

Does $g+A\subseteq A+A$ imply $g\in A$?

Suppose that $A$ is a subset of a (large) finite cyclic group such that $|A|=5$ and $|A+A|=12$. Given that $g$ is a group element with $g+A\subseteq A+A$, can one conclude that $g\in A$?
12 votes
2 answers
576 views

The $r$-dimensional volume of the Minkowski sum of $n$ ($n\geq r$) line sets

Let $n$ line sets be $\mathcal{S}_i=\{a\mathbf{h}_i:0 \le a \le 1\}$, for $1 \le i \le n$, where $\{\mathbf{h}_1,\cdots,\mathbf{h}_n\}$ is a vector group of rank $r$ in the $r$-dimensional Euclidean ...
10 votes
1 answer
283 views

Freiman inequality for projective space?

This question is suggested by some results in a paper I am writing. I would like to write it down there but want to make sure that it is not known or at least MO-hard. Freiman's inequality states ...
7 votes
2 answers
502 views

Do Minkowski sums have anything like calculus?

Is there anything resembling differential calculus over the space of (nicely behaved) regions in $\mathbb{R}^d$, where addition is interpreted in terms of Minkowski sums? For example, it is known ...
18 votes
3 answers
992 views

Decomposing a finite group as a product of subsets

My friend Wim van Dam asked me the following question: For every finite group $G$, does there exist a subset $S\subset G$ such that $\left|S\right| = O(\sqrt{\left|G\right|})$ and $S\times S = G$? ...
3 votes
0 answers
133 views

Is there some sort of formula for $t(S_n)$?

Let $G$ be a finite group. Define $t(G)$ as the minimal number, such that $\forall X \subset G$ if $|X| > t(G)$ and $\langle X \rangle = G$, then $XXX = G$. Is there some sort of formula for $t(S_n)...
2 votes
0 answers
39 views

Weighted unrestricted Golomb rulers?

A set of integers ${\displaystyle A=\{a_{1},a_{2},...,a_{m}\}\quad a_{1}<a_{2}<...<a_{m}} $ is a Golomb ruler if and only if ${\displaystyle \forall i,j,k,l\in \left\{1,2,...,m\right\},a_{i}...
6 votes
1 answer
259 views

Is there some sort of formula for $\tau(S_n)$?

Let $G$ be a finite group. Define $\tau(G)$ as the minimal number, such that $\forall X \subset G$ if $|X| > \tau(G)$, then $XXX = \langle X \rangle$. Is there some sort of formula for $\tau(S_n)$, ...
3 votes
1 answer
200 views

On a problem about $GF(2)^n$

For $A\subseteq {\mathbb F}_2^n$ let $$ Q(A)=\{\alpha+\beta\mid \alpha,\beta \in A,\ \alpha\neq\beta \}. $$ I want to prove or disprove that if $|A|=2^k+1$ for some integer $k$, then $$ |Q(A)|\ge2^{k+...
0 votes
0 answers
56 views

Rewriting a set of integers to get rid of repetition but keeping subset sum ordering

Say, I have a set of 6 +ve integers sorted in ascending order: $A = \{2,4,4,4,5,7\}$ Now to make it easier to deal with (Minimum one starts with 1) I deducted one from all of them: $\therefore B= ...
1 vote
0 answers
197 views

Generating Subsets of a Multiset in Ascending Order of the Sums of the Elements of the Subset

I am trying to come up with an algorithm where you can generate combination from a set in a order such that their sums are in increasing order. This set has to be a multiset i.e. repetition allowed. ...
6 votes
1 answer
885 views

Minkowski sum of polytopes from their facet normals and volumes

By Minkowski's work in the early 1900s, every polytope $P\subset\mathbb R^n$ is determined up to translation by its unit facet normals $u_1,\dots,u_k$ and facet volumes $\alpha_1,\dots,\alpha_k$. ...
3 votes
1 answer
143 views

Bounding the size of certain sumsets in the plane

Let $A$ be a finite set in $\mathbb{R}^2$ of $k^2$ elements and consider a set $B=\{x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4\}$ such that the points in $B$ are in general position (no three points on a line). Question 1: Is ...
3 votes
1 answer
218 views

On particular sumset properties of permanent?

Denote $\mathcal R_2[n]=\mathcal R[n] + \mathcal R[n]$ to be sumset of integers in $\mathcal R[n]$ where $\mathcal R[n]$ to be set of permanents possible with permanents of $n\times n$ matrices with $...