Special Year Learning Seminar

Bounds in the Inverse Theorem for the Gowers Norms (for Certain Groups)

The inverse theorem for the Gowers U^{s+1}-norms has a central place in modern additive combinatorics, but all known proofs of it are difficult and most do not give effective bounds.

Over this seminar and the next, I will give an outline of a proof giving plausible bounds, in the case of groups Z/NZ where N is a large prime.  Many of the key ideas are present in the cases s=2 and s=3, so I will focus on these for simplicity.  The argument splits into an "algebraic part" which comprises a structure theorem for "local polynomials", and an "analytic part" which uses this to deduce the inverse theorem; the two may be taken somewhat separately.

I will assume some basic familiarity with the definition of the Gowers norms, and maybe some basic statements related to the inverse theorem, but not much else.

Date & Time

January 18, 2023 | 10:30am – 12:00pm

Location

Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

Affiliation

University of California, San Diego; von Neumann Fellow, School of Mathematics

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