The simple ordering conjecture for zero-sum subsets of abelian groups

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Let (G,+)(G,+) be an abelian group. Let AA be a finite subset of G∖{0}G\setminus\{0\} such that no 22-subset {x,−x}\{x,-x\} is contained in AA, and suppose that

∑a∈Aa=0.\sum_{a\in A}a=0.

A simple ordering of AA is an ordering of its elements whose successive partial sums are distinct. Simple ordering conjecture. There exists a simple ordering of the elements of AA. This conjecture would imply that every Heffter array is simple; its validity was proposed in earlier work, while the existence of square integer Heffter arrays is known. The general assertion remains open.

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  1. The simple ordering conjecture for zero-sum subsets of abelian groups

    Let (G,+)(G,+) be an abelian group. Let AA be a finite subset of G∖{0}G\setminus\{0\} such that no 22-subset {x,−x}\{x,-x\} is contained in AA and

    ∑a∈Aa=0.\sum_{a\in A}a=0.

    A simple ordering of AA is an ordering of its elements whose successive partial sums are distinct. Simple ordering conjecture. There exists a simple ordering of the elements of AA. This conjecture concerns sequencing zero-sum subsets of abelian groups under the condition that no element and its inverse both occur; its status is not established by the supplied text.

    source: Simone Costa, Fiorenza Morini, Anita Pasotti and Marco Antonio Pellegrini, “A generalization of Heffter arrays”, arXiv:1906.03932 (2019).

References

Primary source

Simone Costa, Fiorenza Morini, Anita Pasotti and Marco Antonio Pellegrini, “Globally simple Heffter arrays and orthogonal cyclic cycle decompositions”, arXiv:1709.05812 (2018).

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