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1. Intersective sets for sparse sets of integers

   https://doi.org/10.1017/etds.2024.73  

   BIENVENU, PIERRE-YVES; GRIESMER, JOHN T; LE, ANH N; LÊ, THÁI HOÀNG (May 2025, Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems)

   Abstract For$$E \subset \mathbb {N}$$, a subset$$R \subset \mathbb {N}$$isE-intersectiveif for every$$A \subset E$$having positive relative density,$$R \cap (A - A) \neq \varnothing $$. We say thatRischromatically E-intersectiveif for every finite partition$$E=\bigcup _{i=1}^k E_i$$, there existsisuch that$$R\cap (E_i-E_i)\neq \varnothing $$. When$$E=\mathbb {N}$$, we recover the usual notions of intersectivity and chromatic intersectivity. We investigate to what extent the known intersectivity results hold in the relative setting when$$E = \mathbb {P}$$, the set of primes, or other sparse subsets of$$\mathbb {N}$$. Among other things, we prove the following: (1) the set of shifted Chen primes$$\mathbb {P}_{\mathrm {Chen}} + 1$$is both intersective and$$\mathbb {P}$$-intersective; (2) there exists an intersective set that is not$$\mathbb {P}$$-intersective; (3) every$$\mathbb {P}$$-intersective set is intersective; (4) there exists a chromatically$$\mathbb {P}$$-intersective set which is not intersective (and therefore not$$\mathbb {P}$$-intersective). 

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2. A TOPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO UNDEFINABILITY IN ALGEBRAIC EXTENSIONS OF Q

   https://doi.org/10.1017/bsl.2023.37  

   EISENTRÄGER, KIRSTEN; MILLER, RUSSELL; SPRINGER, CALEB; WESTRICK, LINDA (December 2023, The Bulletin of Symbolic Logic)

   Abstract For any subset$$Z \subseteq {\mathbb {Q}}$$, consider the set$$S_Z$$of subfields$$L\subseteq {\overline {\mathbb {Q}}}$$which contain a co-infinite subset$$C \subseteq L$$that is universally definable inLsuch that$$C \cap {\mathbb {Q}}=Z$$. Placing a natural topology on the set$${\operatorname {Sub}({\overline {\mathbb {Q}}})}$$of subfields of$${\overline {\mathbb {Q}}}$$, we show that ifZis not thin in$${\mathbb {Q}}$$, then$$S_Z$$is meager in$${\operatorname {Sub}({\overline {\mathbb {Q}}})}$$. Here,thinandmeagerboth mean “small”, in terms of arithmetic geometry and topology, respectively. For example, this implies that only a meager set of fieldsLhave the property that the ring of algebraic integers$$\mathcal {O}_L$$is universally definable inL. The main tools are Hilbert’s Irreducibility Theorem and a new normal form theorem for existential definitions. The normal form theorem, which may be of independent interest, says roughly that every$$\exists $$-definable subset of an algebraic extension of$${\mathbb Q}$$is a finite union of single points and projections of hypersurfaces defined by absolutely irreducible polynomials. 

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3. Generic Beauville’s Conjecture

   https://doi.org/10.1017/fms.2024.21  

   Coskun, Izzet; Larson, Eric; Vogt, Isabel (January 2024, Forum of Mathematics, Sigma)

   Abstract Let$$\alpha \colon X \to Y$$be a finite cover of smooth curves. Beauville conjectured that the pushforward of a general vector bundle under$$\alpha $$is semistable if the genus ofYis at least$$1$$and stable if the genus ofYis at least$$2$$. We prove this conjecture if the map$$\alpha $$is general in any component of the Hurwitz space of covers of an arbitrary smooth curveY. 

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4. Almost all orbits of the Collatz map attain almost bounded values

   https://doi.org/10.1017/fmp.2022.8  

   Tao, Terence (January 2022, Forum of Mathematics, Pi)

   Abstract Define theCollatz map$${\operatorname {Col}} \colon \mathbb {N}+1 \to \mathbb {N}+1$$on the positive integers$$\mathbb {N}+1 = \{1,2,3,\dots \}$$by setting$${\operatorname {Col}}(N)$$equal to$$3N+1$$whenNis odd and$$N/2$$whenNis even, and let$${\operatorname {Col}}_{\min }(N) := \inf _{n \in \mathbb {N}} {\operatorname {Col}}^n(N)$$denote the minimal element of the Collatz orbit$$N, {\operatorname {Col}}(N), {\operatorname {Col}}^2(N), \dots $$. The infamousCollatz conjectureasserts that$${\operatorname {Col}}_{\min }(N)=1$$for all$$N \in \mathbb {N}+1$$. Previously, it was shown by Korec that for any$$\theta> \frac {\log 3}{\log 4} \approx 0.7924$$, one has$${\operatorname {Col}}_{\min }(N) \leq N^\theta $$for almost all$$N \in \mathbb {N}+1$$(in the sense of natural density). In this paper, we show that foranyfunction$$f \colon \mathbb {N}+1 \to \mathbb {R}$$with$$\lim _{N \to \infty } f(N)=+\infty $$, one has$${\operatorname {Col}}_{\min }(N) \leq f(N)$$for almost all$$N \in \mathbb {N}+1$$(in the sense of logarithmic density). Our proof proceeds by establishing a stabilisation property for a certain first passage random variable associated with the Collatz iteration (or more precisely, the closely related Syracuse iteration), which in turn follows from estimation of the characteristic function of a certain skew random walk on a$$3$$-adic cyclic group$$\mathbb {Z}/3^n\mathbb {Z}$$at high frequencies. This estimation is achieved by studying how a certain two-dimensional renewal process interacts with a union of triangles associated to a given frequency. 

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5. Bohr sets in sumsets II: countable abelian groups

   https://doi.org/10.1017/fms.2023.49  

   Griesmer, John T.; Le, Anh N.; Lê, Thái Hoàng (July 2023, Forum of Mathematics, Sigma)

   Abstract We prove three results concerning the existence of Bohr sets in threefold sumsets. More precisely, lettingGbe a countable discrete abelian group and$$\phi _1, \phi _2, \phi _3: G \to G$$be commuting endomorphisms whose images have finite indices, we show that(1)If$$A \subset G$$has positive upper Banach density and$$\phi _1 + \phi _2 + \phi _3 = 0$$, then$$\phi _1(A) + \phi _2(A) + \phi _3(A)$$contains a Bohr set. This generalizes a theorem of Bergelson and Ruzsa in$$\mathbb {Z}$$and a recent result of the first author.(2)For any partition$$G = \bigcup _{i=1}^r A_i$$, there exists an$$i \in \{1, \ldots , r\}$$such that$$\phi _1(A_i) + \phi _2(A_i) - \phi _2(A_i)$$contains a Bohr set. This generalizes a result of the second and third authors from$$\mathbb {Z}$$to countable abelian groups.(3)If$$B, C \subset G$$have positive upper Banach density and$$G = \bigcup _{i=1}^r A_i$$is a partition,$$B + C + A_i$$contains a Bohr set for some$$i \in \{1, \ldots , r\}$$. This is a strengthening of a theorem of Bergelson, Furstenberg and Weiss. All results are quantitative in the sense that the radius and rank of the Bohr set obtained depends only on the indices$$[G:\phi _j(G)]$$, the upper Banach density ofA(in (1)), or the number of sets in the given partition (in (2) and (3)). 

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