VIP systems in partial semigroups

A VIP system is a polynomial-type generalization of the notion of an IP system, i.e., a set of finite sums. We extend the notion of VIP system to commutative partial semigroups and obtain an analogue of Furstenberg's central sets theorem for these systems which extends the polynomial Hales–Jewett Theorem of Bergelson and Leibman. Several Ramsey theoretic consequences, including the central sets theorem itself, are then derived from these results.     

Multiplicative structures in additively large sets

Previous research extending over a few decades has established that multiplicatively large sets (in any of several interpretations) must have substantial additive structure. We investigate here the question of how much multiplicative structure can be found in additively large sets. For example, we show that any translate of a set of finite sums from an infinite sequence must contain all of the initial products from another infinite sequence. And, as a corollary of a result of Renling Jin, we show that if A and B have positive upper Banach density, then A+B contains all of the initial products from an infinite sequence. We also show that if a set has a complement which is not additively piecewise syndetic, then any translate of that set is both additively and multiplicatively large in several senses.We investigate whether a subset of N with bounded gaps—a syndetic set—must contain arbitrarily long geometric progressions. We believe that we establish that this is a significant open question.     

Sums of Idempotents in βN

Communicated by Michael Mislove     

Finite sums from sequences within cells of a partition of N

The principal result of this paper establishes the validity of a conjecture by Graham and Rothschild. This states that, if the natural numbers are divided into two classes, then there is a sequence drawn from one of those classes such that all finite sums of distinct members of that sequence remain in the same class.     

The determination of cadmium by atomic absorption in air, water, sea water and urine with a R.F. carbon bed atomizer

The analytical parameters are described for the determination of cadmium by atomic absorption in air, water, sea water, and urine. The technique involves the use of an R.F. generator which heats up a carbon bed to approximately 1400°. This sample is reduced to free metal atoms and is analyzed directly afterwards. The atomization step and the measuring step are separate steps in this procedure. Detection limits of 10^-13 g were reached. Quantitative analyses were carried out on the types of samples indicated.     

Digital representation of semigroups and groups

A digital representation of a semigroup (S,⋅) is a family 〈F _t 〉 _t∈I , where I is a linearly ordered set, each F _t is a finite non-empty subset of S and every element of S is uniquely representable in the form Π _t∈H   x _t where H is a finite subset of I, each x _t ∈F _t and products are taken in increasing order of indices. (If S has an identity 1, then Π _t∈∅   x _t =1.) A strong digital representation of a group G is a digital representation of G with the additional property that for each t∈I, for some x _t ∈G and some m _t >1 in ℕ where m _t =2 if the order of x _t is infinite, while, if the order of x _t is finite, then m _t is a prime and the order of x _t is a power of m _t . We show that any free semigroup has a digital representation with each | F _t |=1 and that each Abelian group has a strong digital representation. We investigate the problem of whether all groups, or even all finite groups have strong digital representations, obtaining several partial results. Finally, we give applications to the algebra of the Stone-Čech compactification of a discrete group and the weakly almost periodic compactification of a discrete semigroup. Dedicated to Karl Heinrich Hofmann on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Stefano Ferri was partially supported by a research grant of the Faculty of Sciences of Universidad de los Andes. The support is gratefully acknowledged. Neil Hindman acknowledges support received from the National Science Foundation via Grant DMS-0554803.     

Sets satisfying the Central Sets Theorem

Central subsets of a discrete semigroup S have very strong combinatorial properties which are a consequence of the Central Sets Theorem . We investigate here the class of semigroups that have a subset with zero Følner density which satisfies the conclusion of the Central Sets Theorem. We show that this class includes any direct sum of countably many finite abelian groups as well as any subsemigroup of (?,+) which contains ?. We also show that if S and T are in this class and either both are left cancellative or T has a left identity, then S×T is in this class. We also extend a theorem proved in (Beiglböck et al. in Topology Appl., to appear), which states that, if p is an idempotent in β? whose members have positive density, then every member of p satisfies the Central Sets Theorem. We show that this holds for all commutative semigroups. Finally, we provide a simple elementary proof of the fact that any commutative semigroup satisfies the Strong Følner Condition.     

On density,translates, and pairwise sums of integers

The principal result is that if a question of Erdös about pairwise sums has a counterexample, then it has counterexamples with maximal density arbitrarily close to 1. In investigating this question, several results about translates of sets with positive-maximal density and with positive asymptotic-upper density are also derived.