Structured extensions and multi-correlation sequences

Abstract

We show that every multi-correlation sequence is the sum of a generalized nilsequence and a null-sequence. This proves a conjecture of N. Frantzikinakis. A key ingredient is the reduction of ergodic multidimensional inverse theorems to analogous finitary inverse theorems, offering a new approach to the structure theory of multidimensional Host-Kra factors. This reduction is proven by combining the methods of Tao (2015) with the Furstenberg correspondence principle. We also prove the analogous multidimensional finitary inverse theorem with quasi-polynomial bounds.