We generalise the Elekes-Szabó theorem to arbitrary arity and dimension and characterise the complex algebraic varieties without power saving. The characterisation involves certain algebraic subgroups of commutative algebraic groups endowed with an extra structure arising from a skew field of endomorphisms. We also extend the Erdős-Szemerédi sum-product phenomenon to elliptic curves. Our approach is based on Hrushovski's framework of pseudo-finite dimensions and the abelian group configuration theorem.
We prove a generalizations of the Elekes-Szabó theorem for relations definable in strongly minimal structures that are interpretable in distal structures.
We give a construction of a non-degenerate polynomial $F\in \mathbb R[x,y,z]$ and a set $A$ of cardinality $n$ such that $\left|Z(F)\cap (A \times A \times A) \right| \gg n^{\frac{3}{2}}$, thus providing a new lower bound construction for the Elekes--Szabó problem. We also give a related construction for the Elekes--Rónyai problem restricted to a subgraph. This consists of a polynomial $f\in \mathbb R[x,y]$ that is not additive or multiplicative, a set $A$ of size $n$, and a subset $P\subset A\times A$ of size $|P|\gg n^{3/2}$ on which $f$ takes only $n$ distinct values.
We study the orchard problem on cubic surfaces. We classify possibly reducible cubic surfaces $X\subseteq \mathbb{P}^3(\C)$ with smooth components on which there exist families of finite sets (of unbounded size) with quadratically many 3-rich lines which do not concentrate (in a natural sense) on any projective plane. Namely, we prove that such a family exists precisely when $X$ is a union of three planes sharing a common line. Along the way, we obtain a general result about nilpotency of groups admitting an algebraic action satisfying an Elekes-Szabó condition, and we prove the following pure…
A theorem of Elekes and Szabó recognizes algebraic groups among certain complex algebraic varieties with maximal size intersections with finite grids. We establish a generalization to relations of any arity and dimension, definable in: 1) stable structures with distal expansions (includes algebraically and differentially closed fields of characteristic $0$); and 2) $o$-minimal expansions of groups. Our methods provide explicit bounds on the power saving exponent in the non-group case. Ingredients of the proof include: a higher arity generalization of the abelian group configuration theorem in …
Let $F\in\mathbb{C}[x,y,z]$ be a constant-degree polynomial,and let $A,B,C\subset\mathbb C$ be finite sets of size $n$. We show that $F$ vanishes on at most $O(n^{11/6})$ points of the Cartesian product $A\times B\times C$, unless $F$ has a special group-related form. This improves a theorem of Elekes and Szabó [Combinatorica, 2012], and generalizes a result of Raz, Sharir, and Solymosi [Amer. J. Math., to appear]. The same statement holds over $\mathbb{R}$, and a similar statement holds when $A, B, C$ have different sizes (with a more involved bound replacing $O(n^{11/6})$). This result provi…
Let $F\in\mathbb{C}[x,y,s,t]$ be an irreducible constant-degree polynomial, and let $A,B,C,D\subset\mathbb{C}$ be finite sets of size $n$. We show that $F$ vanishes on at most $O(n^{8/3})$ points of the Cartesian product $A\times B\times C\times D$, unless $F$ has a special group-related form. A similar statement holds for $A,B,C,D$ of unequal sizes. This is a four-dimensional extension of our recent improved analysis of the original Elekes-Szabó theorem in three dimensions. We give three applications: an expansion bound for three-variable real polynomials that do not have a special form, a bo…
In this paper we give a conditional improvement to the Elekes-Szabó problem over the rationals, assuming the Uniformity Conjecture. Our main result states that for $F\in \mathbb{Q}[x,y,z]$ belonging to a particular family of polynomials, and any finite sets $A, B, C \subset \mathbb Q$ with $|A|=|B|=|C|=n$, we have \[ |Z(F) \cap (A\times B \times C)| \ll n^{2-\frac{1}{s}}. \] The value of the integer $s$ is dependent on the polynomial $F$, but is always bounded by $s \leq 5$, and so even in the worst applicable case this gives a quantitative improvement on a bound of Raz, Sharir and de Zeeuw (a…
Let $p_1,p_2,p_3$ be three distinct points in the plane, and, for $i=1,2,3$, let $\mathcal C_i$ be a family of $n$ unit circles that pass through $p_i$. We address a conjecture made by Székely, and show that the number of points incident to a circle of each family is $O(n^{11/6})$, improving an earlier bound for this problem due to Elekes, Simonovits, and Szabó [Combin. Probab. Comput., 2009]. The problem is a special instance of a more general problem studied by Elekes and Szabó [Combinatorica, 2012] (and by Elekes and Rónyai [J. Combin. Theory Ser. A, 2000]).
We give an overview of recent progress around a problem introduced by Elekes and Rónyai. The prototype problem is to show that a polynomial $f\in \mathbb{R}[x,y]$ has a large image on a Cartesian product $A\times B\subset \mathbb{R}^2$, unless $f$ has a group-related special form. We discuss a number of variants and generalizations. This includes the Elekes-Szabó problem, which generalizes the Elekes-Rónyai problem to a question about an upper bound on the intersection of an algebraic surface with a Cartesian product, and curve variants, where we ask the same questions for Cartesian products o…
