Extremal problems and the combinatorics of sumsets

A survey paper on some recent results on additive problems with prime powers.

We discuss a structural approach to subset-sum problems in additive combinatorics. The core of this approach are Freiman-type structural theorems, many of which will be presented through the paper. These results have applications in various areas, such as number theory, combinatorics and mathematical physics.

We develop the theory of the additive dimension ${\rm dim} (A)$, i.e. the size of a maximal dissociated subset of a set $A$. It was shown that the additive dimension is closely connected with the growth of higher sumsets $nA$ of our set $A$. We apply this approach to demonstrate that for any small multiplicative subgroup $\Gamma$ the sequence $|n\Gamma|$ grows very fast. Also, we obtain a series of applications to the sum--product phenomenon and to the Balog--Wooley decomposi...

In this talk we introduce several topics in combinatorial number theory which are related to groups; the topics include combinatorial aspects of covers of groups by cosets, and also restricted sumsets and zero-sum problems on abelian groups. A survey of known results and open problems on the topics is given in a popular way.

These notes are a summary of the problem session discussions at various CANT (Combinatorial and Additive Number Theory Conferences). Currently they include all years from 2009 through 2019 (inclusive); the goal is to supplement this file each year. These additions will include the problem session notes from that year, and occasionally discussions on progress on previous problems. If you are interested in pursuing any of these problems and want additional information as to pro...

Let $A$ and $B$ be additive sets of $\mathbb{Z}_{2k}$, where $A$ has cardinality $k$ and $B=v.\complement A$ with $v\in\mathbb{Z}_{2k}^{\times}$. In this note some bounds for the cardinality of $A+B$ are obtained, using four different approaches. We also prove that in a special case the bound is not sharp and we can recover the whole group as a sumset.

This is a survey of some of Erd\H os's work on bases in additive number theory.

For finite sets of integers $A_1, A_2 ... A_n$ we study the cardinality of the $n$-fold sumset $A_1+... +A_n$ compared to those of $n-1$-fold sumsets $A_1+... +A_{i-1}+A_{i+1}+... A_n$. We prove a superadditivity and a submultiplicativity property for these quantities. We also examine the case when the addition of elements is restricted to an addition graph between the sets.

For an interval [1,N] in the natural numbers, investigating subsets S of [1,N] such that |{(x,y) in S^2:x+y in S}|=0, known as sum-free sets, has attracted considerable attention. In this paper, we define r(S):=|{(x,y) in S^2: x+y in S}| and consider its behaviour as S ranges over the subsets of [1,N]. We obtain a comprehensive description of the spectrum of attainable r-values for the s-sets of [1,N], constructive existence results and structural characterizations for sets a...

Recently, additive combinatorics has blossomed into a vibrant area in mathematical sciences. But it seems to be a difficult area to define - perhaps because of a blend of ideas and techniques from several seemingly unrelated contexts which are used there. One might say that additive combinatorics is a branch of mathematics concerning the study of combinatorial properties of algebraic objects, for instance, Abelian groups, rings, or fields. This emerging field has seen tremend...