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arXiv · 2305.11088

Ranges of polynomials control degree ranks of Green and Tao over finite prime fields

Thomas Karam
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Abstract

Let $p$ be a prime, let $1 \le t < d < p$ be integers, and let $S$ be a non-empty subset of $\mathbb{F}_p$. We establish that if a polynomial $P:\mathbb{F}_p^n \to \mathbb{F}_p$ with degree $d$ is such that the image $P(S^n)$ does not contain the full image $A(\mathbb{F}_p)$ of any non-constant polynomial $A: \mathbb{F}_p \to \mathbb{F}_p$ with degree at most $t$, then $P$ coincides on $S^n$ with a polynomial that in particular has bounded degree-$\lfloor d/(t+1) \rfloor$-rank in the sense of Green and Tao. Similarly, we prove that if the assumption holds even for $t=d$, then $P$ coincides on $S^n$ with a polynomial determined by a bounded number of coordinates.

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Thomas Karam. 2023-05-18. Ranges of polynomials control degree ranks of Green and Tao over finite prime fields. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0013091526101382

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