The quadratic inverse large sieve problem predicts that the examples sharp at the square-root threshold are essentially quadratic. Hanson proved the first unconditional result in this direction: if $A\subseteq[N]$, $|A|\gg\sqrt N$, and $|A_p|\le p/2+O(1)$ for every prime $p$, then $A$ contains $\gg\log N$ elements in the image of a single quadratic. We significantly improve this lower bound to \[ \exp\left(c\frac{\sqrt{\log N}}{\log\log N}\right). \] We also prove density-dependent variants, including a two-set version motivated by Green--Harper's robust inverse large sieve conjectures and their connection with the inverse Goldbach problem. Combined with a theorem of Elsholtz--Harper on hypothetical decompositions of the primes, our results show that any such decomposition would force both summands to have large intersections with quadratic images. Our proof combines a weighted entropy argument with sieve estimates, inspired by the recent work of Croot--Mao--Pohoata--Sheffer--Yip.
The Johnson--Lindenstrauss lemma asserts that every set of $n$ points in $d$-dimensional Euclidean space embeds into $O(\varepsilon^{-2}\log n)$-dimensional Euclidean space with distortion at most $1+\varepsilon$. Larsen and Nelson conjectured that the optimal target dimension throughout the full range of the parameters $n,d, \varepsilon$ is \[ \Theta\left(\min\left\{d,n-1,\frac{\log(2+\varepsilon^2n)}{\varepsilon^2}\right\}\right). \] We resolve this conjecture in the affirmative. In fact, we prove the stronger statement that the upper bound is attained by a linear map. The matching lower bound, due to Larsen--Nelson and Alon--Klartag, holds even for nonlinear embeddings.
For $m\geq 2$, let $c_p(m)$ be the all-dimensional best constant in $$ \left\|\sum_{k=1}^m A_k\right\|_p \leq c_p(m)\left\|\sum_{k=1}^m |A_k|\right\|_p. $$ Tang and Zhang conjectured an explicit formula for every finite $p>1$. We disprove the conjecture with two explicit real $2\times 2$ rank-one matrices at $p=3/2$. The comparison is certified by seven strict rational inequalities and, in particular, places the attained ratio above $207/200$, while the conjectured constant lies below $207/200$. On the positive side, we prove the conjectured sharp bound for every family of rank-at-most-one summands when $2\leq p<\infty$, and classify all equality cases. We also prove the corresponding endpoint statement for $p=\infty$. Finally, for arbitrary complex matrices, we establish the conjectured sharp constant in the case $m=2$, $p=4$.
Let $M_n$ be an $n\times n$ matrix with independent uniform sign entries. We prove that there exist absolute constants $C,c>0$ such that, for all sufficiently large $n$, \[ \mathbb{P}\!\left( \left|\operatorname{Per}(M_n)\right| \ge e^{-Cn}\sqrt{n!} \right) \ge 1-n^{-c}. \] Our proof tracks the total squared permanent of minors under successive row exposure. Up to $k=\lfloor n/2\rfloor$, the total squared permanent grows deterministically via the Boolean lattice up-operator; for larger $k$, the row exposure increments are governed by positive semidefinite Rademacher quadratic forms. Therefore, we confirms the exponential scale lower bound suggested by Tao and Vu.
We give explicit complex polynomials $P,Q$ in three independent standard real Gaussian variables such that \[ {\mathbb E}(P^m)=0,\qquad {\mathbb E}(QP^m)=m!\neq0 \] for every $m\geq1$. In natural complex linear coordinates, $P$ has five terms and total degree $4$. Hence the Gaussian Moments Conjecture is false in every dimension $n\geq3$. We also give a six-term cubic example in four variables, which was found first and already proves failure for every $n\geq4$. Both examples follow from the same coefficient identity. The search was prompted by Levent Alp\"oge's public announcement of an explicit three-dimensional counterexample to the Jacobian Conjecture. Although the main theorem of Derksen, van den Essen, and Zhao is stated globally in dimension, its proof has fixed-dimensional content: a noninvertible cubic-homogeneous Keller map in $r$ variables forces the failure of ${\mathrm GMC}(2r)$. Tracking a standard Bass--Connell--Wright reduction of the announced map gives a conservative cubic-homogeneous counterexample in $79$ variables, and hence a route-based failure of ${\mathrm GMC}(158)$. That route is nonconstructive at the final Gaussian step and does not furnish explicit polynomials $P,Q$. The much smaller explicit failures in dimensions $4$ and $3$ below were not derived from the announced Jacobian map.
For an odd prime $p$, let $m(p)$ be the minimum cardinality of a set $A\subseteq \mathbb Z/p\mathbb Z$, with $|A|\geq2$, such that no sum in $A+A$ has a unique representation as an unordered pair from $A$, with repetition allowed. Bedert proved \[ m(p)\gg \log p\, \frac{\sqrt{\log^{(3)}p}}{\log^{(4)}p}. \] We prove the stronger lower bound \[ m(p)\gg \log p\,\log\log p. \] More generally, if $G$ is a finite Abelian group and $q(G)$ is the least prime divisor of $|G|$, then the same explicit estimate holds whenever $q(G)>2$, and in particular every subset $A\subseteq G$ with $|A|\geq2$ and no unique sum has cardinality $\gg \log q(G)\,\log\log q(G)$ as $q(G)\to\infty$. The proof has two structural inputs. First, a maximum subset of $A$ whose distinct-element subset sums of size at most four are all different has cardinality $\gg\log p$. This follows from a short-coordinate lemma and a collision-lattice determinant argument. Second, we refine Bedert's density increment. Alternative representations are oriented toward an uncovered endpoint, coalesced by their translation, and separated into wide, exposed, and recurrent batches. A load-sensitive entropy lemma codes the recurrent translations using their actual final fibre multiplicities. The resulting global shift-set complexity is $\exp(O(K))$, where $K$ is the ratio of $|A|$ to the level-four additive dimension. This forces $K\gg\log\log p$, and the theorem follows. All headline statements and the structural implications used to derive them have also been checked in Lean~4 with explicit integer constants. As a secondary and logically independent result, we construct weakly ternary-balanced sets and obtain \[ m(p)\leq \frac{(\log p)^2}{2(\log 3)^2} +\left(\frac{2}{\log 3}+o(1)\right) \frac{(\log p)^2}{\log\log p}. \]
Let $C_q$ denote the group of the $q$th roots of unity. A question arising from the work of Becker, Klein, Slote, Volberg and Zhang is whether the dimension-free Bohnenblust--Hille constants for functions on $C_q^N$ grow subexponentially with the degree. We answer this question affirmatively. In fact, we prove a stronger estimate for functions whose Fourier characters involve at most $d$ coordinates. If $\BHint{d}{q}$ is the optimal constant for this larger class, then, for every fixed $q\geq2$, \[ \BHint{d}{q}\leq \exp\left(c_q\sqrt{d\log d} +O_q\left(\sqrt{\frac d{\log d}}\log\log d\right)\right), \] where $c_2=2$ and $c_q=\sqrt{2q\log(q-1)/(q-2)}$ for $q\geq3$. As an application, we obtain two-sided estimates for the Bohr radius of the Fourier layer formed by characters involving exactly $d$ coordinates, and we determine its asymptotic behaviour in natural joint regimes of $d$ and $N$.