Structure theory of set addition with two operations

Abstract

We take the first step toward a structure theory that includes both operations of a ring $\mathcal{R}$. More precisely, we prove a series of inverse results for the structure of sets $A\subseteq \mathbf{F}_p$ such that, under certain conditions on integers $r_1, \dots, r_k$, one has $|A^{r_1} + \dots + A^{r_k}| \ll \sqrt[k]{p^{k-1} |A|}$.