Hypercontractive weighted influence bound 2026-10-14
For a zero-one Boolean function, the flip-probability influence is . Apply Beckner's inequality with noise parameter to the discrete derivative of a Boolean function, whose nonzero magnitude is . Its norm squared is . Summing over coordinates gives the displayed weighted Fourier weight bound, a useful intermediate step in influence lower bounds.
For a subset of the unbiased Boolean hypercube of density , use normalized Fourier-Walsh transform coefficients. Applying Beckner's inequality with gives . On levels at most two the weights are at least , giving the displayed bound. Parseval's identity gives total Fourier mass , so when the higher levels contain strictly more than the lower levels.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 7 5 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use normalized Fourier-Walsh transform coefficients . The Hamming weight counts the nonzero coordinates. Norms on the input cube use uniform probability, and a frequency integral here is counting over . A common alternative normalization multiplies both sides of the requested comparison by the same factor and does not change it.
Beckner's inequality states that for and , the noise operator on the Boolean hypercube, with coefficients , satisfies . In particular choose , , .
Let and . Then . On frequencies of weight at most two, , so Beckner's inequality and Parseval's identity give the low-degree Fourier mass of a sparse Boolean set estimateThe indicator function is real and the cube characters are real, so the displayed squares equal the squared absolute values. Total Fourier weight is . If , then and , since . ThereforeThis establishes the strict comparison for every power , not merely for an unspecified very large threshold. The original PDF supplies the density condition and Beckner request, both missing from the converted TeX.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 13 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Work on the unbiased Boolean hypercube with values for the coordinates and for . Write its Fourier-Walsh transform asThe flip-probability influences satisfyThese factors of four are essential for zero-one . If , the conclusion is immediate. Otherwise suppose, for a contradiction, that , where . Take small enough that . The high-level Fourier weight obeysThis proves the first intermediate claim, including when is not an integer.
Set and . For the discrete derivative of a Boolean function, has magnitude exactly on a set of measure . Beckner's inequality, in the precise form for the noise operator on the Boolean hypercube, yieldsFor , concavity of shows that is at least the smaller endpoint value , and this is at least since . Therefore the low-level Fourier weight gives the second required intermediate bound:On the other hand, and the assumed bound on giveCombining these inequalities would imply . But and , so the inequality is impossible. ConsequentlyIn fact, this proof needs sufficiently small but no separate lower bound on .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 15 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the uniform probability measure on the Boolean hypercube. In the Fourier-Walsh transform convention , write with . For the indicator , Parseval's identity givesThe flip-probability influence satisfies , and summing gives .
For , Beckner's inequality says . Apply it to the discrete derivative of a Boolean function in coordinate , viewed on the other coordinates. Its nonzero magnitude is and occurs with probability , soSumming over gives the hypercontractive weighted influence bound
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 82 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the uniform probability measure on the Boolean hypercube. The influence of a variable is the flip probabilityThe polynomial defining is interpreted over . Flipping the first coordinate adds modulo two. This nonempty parity is balanced for , so
An explicit Tribes function works for every . Choose the largest integer with , let , and take the OR of disjoint ANDs of coordinates. Ignore the unused coordinates. Its zero probability is , between and , and a used coordinate has influenceHere by maximality. For the balance claim, gives probability ; for , gives zero probability at most , while for gives a lower bound . Only the example was requested, but these checks fix its parameters unambiguously.
For the lower bound we prove the required consequence of Beckner's inequality with constants. Write the Fourier-Walsh transform as , where and . The discrete derivative of a Boolean function is . Since takes values zero and one, takes values . Consequently Parseval's identity givesThe factor four is required for the printed convention. Also under the balance hypothesis.
The true Beckner's inequality states for , , with . Apply it with , , to , a function independent of coordinate . Its nonzero values still have magnitude . We obtainLet . For an integer , the low-degree Fourier weight satisfiesFor the high-degree part the total influence identity givesTogether these imply .
Suppose, seeking a contradiction, that , with natural logarithms. Then and . Hence . Put . The first term on the right is bounded bythe middle expression is maximized at . Moreover , since . ThusWe would have , contradicting . ThereforeThis derives the stated Kahn-Kalai-Linial theorem bound from the actual noise operator on the Boolean hypercube inequality, rather than using the desired conclusion as an input.