An application of graph pebbling to zero-sum sequences in abelian groups

We provide a summary of research on disjoint zero-sum subsets in finite Abelian groups, which is a branch of additive group theory and combinatorial number theory. An orthomorphism of a group $\Gamma$ is defined as a bijection $\varphi$ $\Gamma$ such that the mapping $g \mapsto g^{-1}\varphi(g)$ is also bijective. In 1981, Friedlander, Gordon, and Tannenbaum conjectured that when $\Gamma$ is Abelian, for any $k \geq 2$ dividing $|\Gamma| -1$, there exists an orthomorphism of ...

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group, and let $S$ be a sequence over $G$. Let $f(S)$ denote the number of elements in $G$ which can be expressed as the sum over a nonempty subsequence of $S$. In this paper, we determine all the sequences $S$ that contains no zero-sum subsequences and $f(S)\leq 2|S|-1$.

Zero-sum problems for abelian groups and covers of the integers by residue classes, are two different active topics initiated by P. Erdos more than 40 years ago and investigated by many researchers separately since then. In an earlier announcement [Electron. Res. Announc. Amer. Math. Soc. 9(2003), 51-60], the author claimed some surprising connections among these seemingly unrelated fascinating areas. In this paper we establish further connections between zero-sum problems fo...

In this paper we discuss some of the key properties of sum-free subsets of abelian groups. Our discussion has been designed with a broader readership in mind, and is hence not overly technical. We consider answers to questions like: how many sum-free subsets are there in a given abelian group $G$? what are its sum-free subsets of maximum cardinality? what is the maximum cardinality of these sum-free subsets? what does a typical sum-free subset of $G$ looks like? among others.

Szemeredi's regularity lemma is an important tool in graph theory which has applications throughout combinatorics. In this paper we prove an analogue of Szemeredi's regularity lemma in the context of abelian groups and use it to derive some results in additive number theory. One is a structure theorm for sets which are almost sum-free. If A is a subset of [N] which contains just o(N^2) triples (x,y,z) such that x + y = z then A may be written as the union of B and C, wher...

Let $G$ be a finite additive abelian group with exponent $n$ and $S=g_{1}\cdots g_{t}$ be a sequence of elements in $G$. For any element $g$ of $G$ and $A\subseteq\{1,2,\ldots,n-1\}$, let $N_{A,g}(S)$ denote the number of subsequences $T=\prod_{i\in I}g_{i}$ of $S$ such that $\sum_{i\in I}a_{i}g_{i}=g$ , where $I\subseteq\left\{ 1,\ldots,t\right\} $ and $a_{i}\in A$. In this paper, we prove that $N_{A,0}(S)\geq2^{|S|-D_{A}(G)+1}$, when $A=\left\{ 1,\ldots,n-1\right\} $, where...

In this survey paper we discuss some recent results and related open questions in additive combinatorics, in particular, questions about sumsets in finite abelian groups.

The topic of this treatise is a combinatorial technique called Graph Pebbling. We investigate pebbling numbers, weight functions, flow networks, hypercubes, and the zero-sum conjecture of Erd\H{o}s and Lemke. This investigation is a comprehensive starting point for anyone who wants to study graph pebbling for the first time, and also includes some new ideas and results for those who have studied it before. For an introductory video, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPzy...

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group, written additively, and $H$ a subgroup of~$G$. The \emph{subgroup sum graph} $\Gamma_{G,H}$ is the graph with vertex set $G$, in which two distinct vertices $x$ and $y$ are joined if $x+y\in H\setminus\{0\}$. These graphs form a fairly large class of Cayley sum graphs. Among cases which have been considered previously are the \emph{prime sum graphs}, in the case where $H=pG$ for some prime number $p$. In this paper we present their structure...

Let $G\cong C_{n_1}\oplus ... \oplus C_{n_r}$ be a finite and nontrivial abelian group with $n_1|n_2|...|n_r$. A conjecture of Hamidoune says that if $W=w_1... w_n$ is a sequence of integers, all but at most one relatively prime to $|G|$, and $S$ is a sequence over $G$ with $|S|\geq |W|+|G|-1\geq |G|+1$, the maximum multiplicity of $S$ at most $|W|$, and $\sigma(W)\equiv 0\mod |G|$, then there exists a nontrivial subgroup $H$ such that every element $g\in H$ can be represente...