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28 JHON J. BRAVO, DIEGO F. RUIZ & CARLOS A. TRUJILLO
If A and B are subsets of G, then the sum set and the difference set are
defined as usual; i.e.,
A + B := {a + b : a ∈ A, b ∈ B},
A − B := {a − b : a ∈ A, b ∈ B}.
r · A ⊕ s · A := (ra) + (sa0 ) : a, a0 ∈ A, a 6= a0 ,
r · A s · A := (ra) − (sa0 ) : a, a0 ∈ A, a 6= a0 ,
{a1 , . . . , ar } = r, a0 ∈
/ {a1 , . . . , ar } ,
rbA s · A := (a1 + · · · + ar ) − (sa0 ) : a1 , . . . , ar , a0 ∈ A
{a1 , . . . , ar } = r, a0 ∈
/ {a1 , . . . , ar } .
So, if A is a Bh set, then
hA = |A| + h − 1
,
h
where |X | denotes the cardinality of a finite set X .
The main problem in the study of Bh sets consists of stating the maximal
cardinality of a Bh set on G. The natural step to follow is to analyze the
asymptotic behavior of the function
fh (G) := max |A| : A ∈ Bh /G as |G| → ∞.
Hence
fh (G)
lim sup p ≤ (h!)1/h .
|G|→∞
h
|G|
In this paper we state closed formulas for the cardinality of some sets related
to B3 and B4 sets, and we analyze implications associated with the functions
f3 (G) and f4 (G), being G a finite abelian group.
We start our study with the case h = 2, where the sets are well–known as
Sidon sets.
These equalities can be applied to the study of the function f2 (G). In this
case we obtain the following result.
Theorem 1. If A is a Sidon set on G, with |A| = k and |G| = N , then
k(k − 1) ≤ N − 1.
Observe from Singer’s construction in [2] that we can obtain the equality
k(k − 1) = N − 1
for infinite values of N and k.
Corollary 2. The function f2 (G) satisfies
f2 (G)
lim sup p ≤ 1.
|G|→∞ |G|
The following theorem shows us formulas for the cardinality of the sets
2A A and 2A − A.
b
f3 (G) √
3
lim sup p ≤ 2.
|G|→∞
3
|G|
and so,
3
1
k− ≤ k (k 2 − k + 2) ≤ 2|G|.
3
In particular
3
1 X
f3 (G) − ≤ 2|G|.
3
2A ∪ 2 · A,
2A = b
2A − A = b2A A ∪ (2 · A A) ∪ A,
3A ∪ (2 · A ⊕ A) ∪ 3 · A.
3A = b
Proof. Note that the sets of the right hand sides are contained in the sets of
the left hand sides. Since the other containments are easy to prove, we just show
one case. For example, in the second formula, if x ∈ 2A − A, then x = a + b − c
for some a, b, c ∈ A. If a, b, and c are all different, then x ∈ b
2A A; if a = b 6= c,
then x ∈ 2 · A A, while in other cases x ∈ A. X
So far we have shown closed formulas for all the sets with h = 3 iterations
of sum sets and difference sets, related to a B3 set. Note that by definition of
B3 sets, we have
k+2
|3A| = = | − 3A|,
3
and using Theorem 3 we get that
k k k
|2A − A| = 3 +2 + = |A − 2A|.
3 2 1
Finally, the last equality of Lemma 5 and the pairwise disjoint of the sets
involved there, imply that
k+2
= |3A| = b3A ∪ (2 · A ⊕ A) ∪ 3 · A
3
3A + |2 · A ⊕ A| + |3 · A|
= b
k k k
= +2 + .
3 2 1
4A, 4A,
b 2A − 2A, 2A b
b 2A, 3A − A, 3A A,
b (2)
and their negatives −(4A), − b 4A , A − 3A, A b 3A. For each one of them, in
this section we show closed formulas for their cardinality and we use them to
determine upper bounds for the function f4 (G). Using the definition of a B4
set, we can state formulas for the cardinality of the sets 4A and b
4A immediately
as follows:
k+3 k
|4A| = and 4A =
b .
4 4
f4 (G) √
lim sup p ≤ 2.
|G|→∞
4
|G|
Hence
k(k − 1) k 2 − k + 6 ≤ 4(|G| − 1),
2A − 2A =
2A b
b 2A ∪ ± b
2A 2 · A ∪ (2 · A 2 · A) ∪ (A A) ∪ {0} (3)
3A − A = b
3A A ∪ (2 · A ⊕ A A) ∪ (3 · A A) ∪ (A ⊕ A) ∪ (2 · A),
where
Furthermore
4A ∪ b
4A = b 2A ⊕ 2 · A ∪ (A ⊕ 3 · A) ∪ (2 · A ⊕ 2 · A) ∪ (4 · A). (4)
Proof. Clearly, the sets at all right hand sides are contained in the sets of the
corresponding left hand sides. The other containments are not hard to prove.
In fact, for (3), if x ∈ 2A − 2A, then x = (a + b) − (c + d) for some a, b, c and
d ∈ A. We now consider all possible cases for the elements a, b, c, and d.
If a, b, c, and d are all different, then x ∈ b
2A b2A; if a 6= b and a, b 6= c =
d,
then x ∈ b 2A 2 · A; if a = b 6= c, d with c 6= d, then x ∈ − b 2A 2 · A ; if
a = b 6= c = d, then x ∈ 2 · A 2 · A; if a 6= b and c 6= d with |{a, b} ∩ {c, d}| = 1,
then x ∈ A A. Finally, if a = b = c = d, then x = 0, so, the proof of this
equality is finished. A similar argument shows the other equalities. X
Lemma 10. If A is a B4 set, then the unions in each one of the expressions
in Lemma 9 are pairwise disjoint.
Proof. We show that b 2A b2A ∩ (2 · A 2 · A) = ∅. The other cases are
proven in a similar way.
2A b
If x ∈ b 2A ∩ (2 · A 2 · A), then x = (a + b) − (c + d) = (e + e) − (f + f )
for some a, b, c, and d in A all of them different, and e, f ∈ A, e 6= f . Therefore
a + b + f + f = e + e + c + d, but A is B4 , so {a, b, f } = {e, c, d}, which is not
possible. X
Thus we have given formulas for all the sets with h = 4 iterations of sum
sets or difference sets, associated with a B4 set. By the definition of a B4 set
and Theorem 7, we have
k+3
|4A| = = | − 4A|
4
and
k k k
|2A − 2A| = 6 +6 +4 + 1,
4 3 2
k k k k
|3A − A| = 4 +6 +3 + ,
4 3 2 1
respectively. On the other hand, by (3) in Lemma 9 and because of the fact
that the unions are pairwise disjoint, we can state a formula for the cardinality
of the set 4A. That is
k+3
= |4A| = b4A ∪ (2 · A ⊕ b2A) ∪ (3 · A ⊕ A) ∪ (2 · A ⊕ 2 · A) ∪ (4 · A)
4
= b4A + 2 · A ⊕ b2A + |3 · A ⊕ A| + |2 · A ⊕ 2 · A| + |4 · A|
k k k k
= + (k − 2) + k(k − 1) + +
4 2 2 1
k k k k
= +3 +3 + .
4 3 2 1
5. Concluding Remarks
In this work we have shown exact formulas in order to determine the cardinality
of some sets in the classes B3 and B4 on a finite abelian group G. Choosing
those formulas that are maximal, we obtained the best upper bounds known
for the extreme functions f3 (G) and f4 (G).
Note that there is still work to be done, some of which is presented as
follows.
What can be done to determine the cardinality of the set sA − tA, where s
and t are positive integers and A is a Bh set, with h = s + t?. To answer this
question, it is important to perform a similar work to that carried out in this
work for B3 and B4 sets; that is, writing sA − tA as a disjoint union and then
studying the cardinality of each one of the sets appearing in that expression.
So far, we have that if A is a Bs+t set with |A| = k, then
sbA b
k k−s
tA =
≤ |G|
s t
so,
k! (k − s)! k!
· = ≤ |G|.
(k − s)! s! (k − s − t)! t! (k − s − t)! s! t!
Hence
(k − s − t + 1)s+t ≤ s! t! |G|. (5)
If s = t, from (5) we obtain
It is important to remark that based on the work of Jia [3], Chen [1] studied
the function fh (ZN ) = fh (N ) and he obtained the bounds
B ∩ (−B) ≤ |B| ,
2
and if it were true, we would get that
9 k
≤ |B| + | − B| − |B ∩ (−B)| = |B ∪ (−B)| ≤ |G|,
2 3
where we have also used the fact that B ∪ (−B) ⊆ G. Thus
4
(k − 2)3 ≤ k (k − 1)(k − 2) ≤ |G|,
3
and so,
1/3
4
f3 (G) ≤ |G|1/3 + 2.
3
With this argument we would improve the upper bound found in Corol-
lary 4, being this the best upper bound known so far. For this reason, we
propose the next conjecture.
Finally, in the case of B4 sets, we suggest finding upper bounds for the
cardinality of the set
2A 2A ∩ b
b 3A A .
Acknowledgement. The authors thank the Universidad del Cauca for the
support under research project VRI 2551.
References
[1] Sheng Chen, On the Size of Finite Sidon Sequences, Proceedings of the
AMS 121 (1994), no. 2, 353–356.
[2] A. Gómez and C. Trujillo, Una nueva construcción de conjuntos Bh modu-
lares, Matemáticas: Enseñanza Universitaria 19 (2011), no. 1, 53–62.
[3] X. D. Jia, On Finite Sidon Sequences, Journal of Number Theory 44 (1993),
no. 1, 84–92.
Departamento de Matemáticas
Universidad del Cauca
Calle 5 No. 4-70
Popayán, Colombia
e-mail: jbravo@unicauca.edu.co
e-mail: dfruiz@unicauca.edu.co
e-mail: trujillo@unicauca.edu.co