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Abstract Thek-dimensional functional order property ($$\operatorname {FOP}_k$$ ${FOP}_k$) is a combinatorial property of a$$(k+1)$$ $(k+1)$-partitioned formula. This notion arose in work of Terry and Wolf [59, 60], which identified$$\operatorname {NFOP}_2$$ ${NFOP}_2$as a ternary analogue of stability in the context of two finitary combinatorial problems related to hypergraph regularity and arithmetic regularity. In this paper we show$$\operatorname {NFOP}_k$$ ${NFOP}_k$has equally strong implications in model-theoretic classification theory, where its behavior as a$$(k+1)$$ $(k+1)$-ary version of stability is in close analogy to the behavior ofk-dependence as a$$(k+1)$$ $(k+1)$-ary version of$$\operatorname {NIP}$$ $NIP$. Our results include several new characterizations of$$\operatorname {NFOP}_k$$ ${NFOP}_k$, including a characterization in terms of collapsing indiscernibles, combinatorial recharacterizations, and a characterization in terms of type-counting when$$k=2$$ $k=2$. As a corollary of our collapsing theorem, we show$$\operatorname {NFOP}_k$$ ${NFOP}_k$is closed under Boolean combinations, and that$$\operatorname {FOP}_k$$ ${FOP}_k$can always be witnessed by a formula where all but one variable have length 1. When$$k=2$$ $k=2$, we prove a composition lemma analogous to that of Chernikov and Hempel from the setting of 2-dependence. Using this, we provide a new class of algebraic examples of$$\operatorname {NFOP}_2$$ ${NFOP}_2$theories. Specifically, we show that ifTis the theory of an infinite dimensional vector space over a fieldK, equipped with a bilinear form satisfying certain properties, thenTis$$\operatorname {NFOP}_2$$ ${NFOP}_2$if and only ifKis stable. Along the way we provide a corrected and reorganized proof of Granger’s quantifier elimination and completeness results for these theories. 

We show that if $G$is an amenable group and $A\subseteq <\#comment/>G$has positive upper Banach density, then there is an identity neighborhood $B$in the Bohr topology on $G$that is almost contained in $A{A}^{\text{-}1}$in the sense that $B\mathrm{\setminus <\#comment/>}A{A}^{\text{-}1}$has upper Banach density $0$. This generalizes the abelian case (due to Følner) and the countable case (due to Beiglböck, Bergelson, and Fish). The proof is indirectly based on local stable group theory in continuous logic. The main ingredients are Grothendieck’s double-limit characterization of relatively weakly compact sets in spaces of continuous functions, along with results of Ellis and Nerurkar on the topological dynamics of weakly almost periodic flows. 

We first give simplified and corrected accounts of some results in work by Pillay (2017) on compactifications of pseudofinite groups. For instance, we use a classical theorem of Turing (1938) to give a simplified proof that any definable compactification of a pseudofinite group has an abelian connected component. We then discuss the relationship between Turing’s work, the Jordan–Schur theorem, and a (relatively) more recent result of Kazhdan (1982) on approximate homomorphisms, and we use this to widen our scope from finite groups to amenable groups. In particular, we develop a suitable continuous logic framework for dealing with definable homomorphisms from pseudoamenable groups to compact Lie groups. Together with the stabilizer theorems of Hrushovski (2012) and Montenegro et al. (2020), we obtain a uniform (but non-quantitative) analogue of Bogolyubov’s lemma for sets of positive measure in discrete amenable groups. We conclude with brief remarks on the case of amenable topological groups.