On convex equations

Abstract

We prove that every subset of $\{1,\dots, N\}$ which does not contain any solutions to the equation $x+y+z=3w$ has at most $\exp(-c(\log N)^{1/5+o(1)})N$ elements, for some $c>0$. This theorem improves upon previous estimates. Additionally, our method has the potential to yield an optimal estimate for this problem that matches the known Behrend's lower estimate. Our approach relies on a new result on almost-periodicity of convolutions.