Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 129 3 ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Apply the Croot-Sisask almost-periodicity theorem with the sampling set , , , and error . Since , the doubling parameter is , and . We obtain withsuch thatfor every . Every is a sum of elements of . Telescoping these shifts and using translation invariance and the triangle inequality for the Lp norm gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 129 3 i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
One normalized form of the Croot-Sisask almost-periodicity theorem is as follows. If finite sets in a group satisfy , , and , then for every function there is withsuch that
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 129 3 a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
One standard normalized form of the Croot-Sisask almost-periodicity theorem is this. Let be finite subsets of an abelian group with , let , let , and let be a complex function. There is withsuch that every satisfies
For the proof, sample independent points of and approximate by the empirical average of the corresponding translates of . A moment inequality bounds the expected error, so many samples are good. The small size of lets a translation and pigeonhole argument find many shifts in producing the same good approximation. Subtracting two such shifts and applying the triangle inequality yields the almost periods in .