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k-Sums in Abelian Groups

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2012

BENJAMIN GIRARD ,
SIMON GRIFFITHS  and
YAHYA OULD HAMIDOUNE
BENJAMIN GIRARD
Affiliation:
IMJ, Équipe Combinatoire et Optimisation, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris 6), 4 Place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France (e-mail: bgirard@math.jussieu.fr)
SIMON GRIFFITHS
Affiliation:
IMPA, Estrada Dona Castorina 110, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 22460-320 (e-mail: sgriff@impa.br)
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Abstract

Given a finite subset A of an abelian group G, we study the set k ∧ A of all sums of k distinct elements of A. In this paper, we prove that |k ∧ A| ≥ |A| for all k ∈ {2,. . .,|A| − 2}, unless k ∈ {2, |A| − 2} and A is a coset of an elementary 2-subgroup of G. Furthermore, we characterize those finite sets A ⊆ G for which |k ∧ A| = |A| for some k ∈ {2,. . .,|A| − 2}. This result answers a question of Diderrich. Our proof relies on an elementary property of proper edge-colourings of the complete graph.

Keywords

Primary 05E1511B1311P7005C15
Type
Paper
Information
Combinatorics, Probability and Computing , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , July 2012 , pp. 582 - 596
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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