Formal-dual subsets of cyclic groups of prime power order

Abstract

We study the notion of formal-duality over finite cyclic groups of prime power order as introduced by Cohn, Kumar, Reiher and Schürmann. We will prove that for any cyclic group of odd prime power order, as well as for any cyclic group of order $2^{2l+1}$, there is no primitive pair of formally-dual subsets. This partially proves a conjecture, made by the priorly mentioned authors, that the only cyclic groups with a pair of primitive formally-dual subsets are $\{0\}$ and $\mathbb{Z}/4\mathbb{Z}$.