A Roth‐type theorem for dense subsets of Rd

Abstract

Let $1 < p < \infty$, $p\neq 2$. We prove that if $d\geq d_p$ is sufficiently large, and $A\subs\R^d$ is a measurable set of positive upper density then there exists $\la_0=\la_0(A)$ such for all $\la\geq\la_0$ there are $x,y\in\R^d$ such that $\{x,x+y,x+2y\}\subs A$ and $|y|_p=\la$, where $||y||_p=(\sum_i |y_i|^p)^{1/p}$ is the $l^p(\mathbb R^d)$-norm of a point $y=(y_1,\ldots,y_d)\in\R^d$. This means that dense subsets of $\R^d$ contain 3-term progressions of all sufficiently large gaps when the gap size is measured in the $l^p$-metric. This statement is known to be false in the Euclidean $l^2$-metric as well as in the $l^1$ and $\ell^{\infty}$-metrics. One of the goals of this note is to understand this phenomenon. A distinctive feature of the proof is the use of multilinear singular integral operators, widely studied in classical time-frequency analysis, in the estimation of forms counting configurations.