A bilinear Bogolyubov theorem

Abstract

The purpose of this note is to prove the existence of a remarkable structure in an iterated sumset derived from a set $P$ in a Cartesian square ${\mathbb{F}}_p^n\times {\mathbb{F}}_p^n$. More precisely, we perform horizontal and vertical sums and differences on $P$, that is, operations on the second coordinate when the first one is fixed, or vice versa. The structure we find is the zero set of a family of bilinear forms on a Cartesian product of vector subspaces. The codimensions of the subspaces and the number of bilinear forms involved are bounded by a function $c(\delta )$ of the density $\delta =|P|/p^{2n}$ only. The proof uses various tools of additive combinatorics, such as the (linear) Bogolyubov theorem, the density increment method, as well as the Balog-Szemerédi-Gowers and Freiman-Ruzsa theorems.

12 pages. Second version mentions a similar posterior work of Gowers and Milicevic. Third version corrects a minor flaw in the argument