Nathanson heights in finite vector spaces

dc.creatorBatson, Joshua D.
dc.date2007-10-25
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T08:38:33Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T08:38:33Z
dc.descriptionLet $p$ be a prime, and let $\mathbb{Z}_p$ denote the field of integers modulo $p$. The \emph{Nathanson height} of a point $v \in \mathbb{Z}_p^n$ is the sum of the least nonnegative integer representatives of its coordinates. The Nathanson height of a subspace $V \subseteq \mathbb{Z}_p^n$ is the least Nathanson height of any of its nonzero points. In this paper, we resolve a conjecture of Nathanson [M. B. Nathanson, Heights on the finite projective line, International Journal of Number Theory, to appear], showing that on subspaces of $\mathbb{Z}_p^n$ of codimension one, the Nathanson height function can only take values about $p, p/2, p/3, ....$ We show this by proving a similar result for the coheight on subsets of $\mathbb{Z}_p$, where the \emph{coheight} of $A \subseteq \mathbb{Z}_p$ is the minimum number of times $A$ must be added to itself so that the sum contains 0. We conjecture that the Nathanson height function has a similar constraint on its range regardless of the codimension, and produce some evidence that supports this conjecture.
dc.description17 pages
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/0710.4605
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0710.4605
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/140768
dc.subjectNumber Theory
dc.subjectCombinatorics
dc.titleNathanson heights in finite vector spaces
dc.typetext

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