Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
1. Let G be a compact Abelian group with character group X. Let be an increasing sequence of finite symmetric subsets of X, and consider a symmetric subset P of . For any Hermitian complex-valued function u on P, we write snu for the real-valued trigonometric polynomial . Edwards, Hewitt and Ross(4) investigated the following property for a non-void measurable subset W of G satisfying W ⊂ (int W)−:
The validity of this implication was shown to be independent of the choice of . Accordingly, if (*) holds, P is called an FZ(W)-set. If P is an FZ(W)-set for all W, then P is termed a full FZ-set or full Fatou-Zygmund set. In this paper, we characterize the full FZ-sets as FZ(G)-sets satisfying a certain algebraic condition. In particular, we show that if G is connected, then a symmetric subset of X is an FZ(G)-set if and only if it is a full FZ-set. Some of the techniques are adaptations of those of Mme Déchamps-Gondim(1), (2). The class of full FZ-sets is not always closed under the operation of finite unions; this contrasts with the situation for Sidon sets and for FZ(G)-sets.