Nilsequence approximation conjecture for 3-term progression dual functions

For A[N]A\subseteq[N], define the dual function counting normalized 3-term arithmetic progressions with common difference dd by

FA(d):=Ex1A(x)1A(x+d)1A(x+2d).F_A(d):=\mathbb{E}_x1_A(x)1_A(x+d)1_A(x+2d).

A 2-step nilsequence is understood in the sense of the paper, and its complexity is measured as in the paper. Nilsequence approximation conjecture. For every ε>0\varepsilon>0, there exists a set of 2-step nilsequences {ϕj}\{\phi_j\} of complexity Oε(1)O_\varepsilon(1) such that, for every AA, there are coefficients cA,jc_{A,j} and an error function eAe_A satisfying

jcA,j1,eA(d)ε(d=1,,N),\sum_j|c_{A,j}|\leq 1,\qquad |e_A(d)|\leq\varepsilon\quad(d=1,\ldots,N),

and

FA(d)=jcA,jϕj(d)+eA(d).F_A(d)=\sum_jc_{A,j}\phi_j(d)+e_A(d).

The conjecture seeks a uniform nilsequence model for the functions governing 3-term progressions with restricted common differences, analogous to the role of Fourier analysis for 2-term progressions. The source relates it to Problem 1 of Frantzikinakis and uses it as a proposed route toward the random-difference problem; no resolution is supplied.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Daniel Altman, “On Szemerédi's theorem with differences from a random set”, arXiv:1905.05045 (2019).

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