Uncommon linear systems of two equations

Abstract

A system of linear equations $L$ is common over ${\mathbb{F}}_p$ if, as $n\to \infty$, any 2-coloring of ${\mathbb{F}}_p^n$ gives asymptotically at least as many monochromatic solutions to $L$ as a random 2-coloring. The notion of common linear systems is analogous to that of common graphs, i.e., graphs whose monochromatic density in 2-edge-coloring of cliques is asymptotically minimized by the random coloring. Saad and Wolf initiated a systematic study on identifying common linear systems, built upon the earlier work of Cameron-Cilleruelo-Serra. When $L$ is a single equation, Fox-Pham-Zhao gave a complete characterization of common linear equations. When $L$ consists of two equations, Kamčev-Liebenau-Morrison showed that irredundant $2\times 4$ linear systems are always uncommon. In this work, (1) we determine commonness of all $2\times 5$ linear systems up to a small number of cases, and (2) we show that all $2\times k$ linear systems with $k$ even and girth (minimum number of nonzero coefficients of a nonzero equation spanned by the system) $k-1$ are uncommon, answering a question of Kamčev-Liebenau-Morrison.

59 pages, 1 figure