1-Saturating Sets, Caps and Round Sets in Binary Spaces

Abstract

We show that, for a positive integer $r$, every minimal 1-saturating set in ${\rm PG}(r-1,2)$ of size at least ${11/36} 2^r+3$ is either a complete cap or can be obtained from a complete cap $S$ by fixing some $s\in S$ and replacing every point $s'\in S\setminus\{s\}$ by the third point on the line through $s$ and $s'$. Stated algebraically: if $G$ is an elementary abelian 2-group and a set $A\subseteq G\setminus\{0\}$ with $|A|>{11/36} |G|+3$ satisfies $A\cup 2A=G$ and is minimal subject to this condition, then either $A$ is a maximal sum-free set, or there are a maximal sum-free set $S\subseteq G$ and an element $s\in S$ such that $A=\{s\}\cup\big(s+(S\setminus\{s\})\big)$. Since, conversely, every set obtained in this way is a minimal 1-saturating set, and the structure of large sum-free sets in an elementary 2-group is known, this provides a complete description of large minimal 1-saturating sets. Our approach is based on characterizing those large sets $A$ in elementary abelian 2-groups such that, for every proper subset $B$ of $A$, the sumset 2B is a proper subset of 2A.