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A subset $R$ of integers is a set of Bohr recurrence if every rotation on $\mathbb{T}^d$ returns arbitrarily close to zero under some non-zero multiple of $R$. We show that the set $\{k!\, 2^m3^n\colon k,m,n\in \mathbb{N}\}$ is a set of Bohr recurrence. This is a particular case of a more general statement about images of such sets under any integer polynomial with zero constant term. We also show that if $P$ is a real polynomial with at least one non-constant irrational coefficient, then the set $\{P(2^m3^n)\colon m,n\in \mathbb{N}\}$ is dense in $\mathbb{T}$, thus providing a joint generalization of two well-known results, one of Furstenberg and one of Weyl., Comment: 13 pages. Added a comment after Theorem 3 and a reference. To appear in the Proceedings of the AMS

We establish multiple recurrence and convergence results for pairs of zero entropy measure preserving transformations that do not satisfy any commutativity assumptions. Our results cover the case where the iterates of the two transformations are $n$ and $n^k$ respectively, where $k\geq 2$, and the case $k=1$ remains an open problem. Our starting point is based on the observation that Furstenberg systems of sequences of the form $(f(T^{n^k}x))$ have very special structural properties when $k\geq 2$. We use these properties and some disjointness arguments in order to get characteristic factors with nilpotent structure for the corresponding ergodic averages, and then finish the proof using some equidistribution results on nilmanifolds., Comment: 20 pages. Referee's comments incorporated.To appear in the Journal of the London Mathematical Society

We give a short proof of a sumset conjecture of Erd\"os, recently proved by Moreira, Richter and Robertson: every subset of the integers of positive density contains the sum of two infinite sets. The proof is written in the framework of classical ergodic theory., Comment: Made some small corrections

We show that in a topological dynamical system $(X,T)$ of positive entropy there exist proper (positively) asymptotic pairs, that is, pairs $(x,y)$ such that $x\not= y$ and $\lim_{n\to +\infty} d(T^n x,T^n y)=0$. More precisely we consider a $T$-ergodic measure $\mu$ of positive entropy and prove that the set of points that belong to a proper asymptotic pair is of measure $1$. When $T$ is invertible, the stable classes (i.e., the equivalence classes for the asymptotic equivalence) are not stable under $T^{-1}$: for $\mu$-almost every $x$ there are uncountably many $y$ that are asymptotic with $x$ and such that $(x,y)$ is a Li-Yorke pair with respect to $T^{-1}$. We also show that asymptotic pairs are dense in the set of topological entropy pairs., Comment: Published in 2002

We prove a structural result for measure preserving systems naturally associated with any finite collection of multiplicative functions that take values on the complex unit disc. We show that these systems have no irrational spectrum and their building blocks are Bernoulli systems and infinite-step nilsystems. One consequence of our structural result is that strongly aperiodic multiplicative functions satisfy the logarithmically averaged variant of the disjointness conjecture of Sarnak for a wide class of zero entropy topological dynamical systems, which includes all uniquely ergodic ones. We deduce that aperiodic multiplicative functions with values plus or minus one have super-linear block growth. Another consequence of our structural result is that products of shifts of arbitrary multiplicative functions with values on the unit disc do not correlate with any totally ergodic deterministic sequence of zero mean. Our methodology is based primarily on techniques developed in a previous article of the authors where analogous results were proved for the M\"obius and the Liouville function. A new ingredient needed is a result obtained recently by Tao and Ter\"av\"ainen related to the odd order cases of the Chowla conjecture., Comment: 20 pages. A few typos corrected

The M\"obius disjointness conjecture of Sarnak states that the M\"obius function does not correlate with any bounded sequence of complex numbers arising from a topological dynamical system with zero topological entropy. We verify the logarithmically averaged variant of this conjecture for a large class of systems, which includes all uniquely ergodic systems with zero entropy. One consequence of our results is that the Liouville function has super-linear block growth. Our proof uses a disjointness argument and the key ingredient is a structural result for measure preserving systems naturally associated with the M\"obius and the Liouville function. We prove that such systems have no irrational spectrum and their building blocks are infinite-step nilsystems and Bernoulli systems. To establish this structural result we make a connection with a problem of purely ergodic nature via some identities recently obtained by Tao. In addition to an ergodic structural result of Host and Kra, our analysis is guided by the notion of strong stationarity which was introduced by Furstenberg and Katznelson in the early 90's and naturally plays a central role in the structural analysis of measure preserving systems associated with multiplicative functions., Comment: 46 pages. A correction made in the statement of Theorem 1.4 and Corollary 3.13. References updated

We study mean convergence results for weighted multiple ergodic averages defined by commuting transformations with iterates given by integer polynomials in several variables. Roughly speaking, we prove that a bounded sequence is a good universal weight for mean convergence of such averages if and only if the averages of this sequence times any nilsequence converge. Key role in the proof play two decomposition results of independent interest. The first states that every bounded sequence in several variables satisfying some regularity conditions is a sum of a nilsequence and a sequence that has small uniformity norm (this generalizes a result of the second author and B. Kra); and the second states that every multiple correlation sequence in several variables is a sum of a nilsequence and a sequence that is small in uniform density (this generalizes a result of the first author). Furthermore, we use the previous results in order to establish mean convergence and recurrence results for a variety of sequences of dynamical and arithmetic origin and give some combinatorial implications., Comment: 53 pages, small changes made in light of comments from the referee, to appear in Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems

We establish results with an arithmetic flavor that generalize the polynomial multidimensional Szemeredi theorem and related multiple recurrence and convergence results in ergodic theory. For instance, we show that in all these statements we can restrict the implicit parameter to those integers that have an even number of distinct prime factors, or satisfy any other congruence condition. In order to obtain these refinements we study the limiting behavior of some closely related multiple ergodic averages with weights given by appropriately chosen multiplicative functions. These averages are then analysed using a recent structural result for bounded multiplicative functions proved by the authors., Comment: 18 pages, small changes made in light of comments from the referee, to appear in Transactions of the American Mathematical Society

A celebrated result of Hal\'asz describes the asymptotic behavior of the arithmetic mean of an arbitrary multiplicative function with values on the unit disc. We extend this result to multilinear averages of multiplicative functions providing similar asymptotics, thus verifying a two dimensional variant of a conjecture of Elliott. As a consequence, we get several convergence results for such multilinear expressions, one of which generalizes a well known convergence result of Wirsing. The key ingredients are a recent structural result for bounded multiplicative functions proved by the authors and the mean value theorem of Hal\'asz., Comment: 14 pages. Referee's comments incorporated. To appear in the Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society

Recurrence properties of systems and associated sets of integers that suffice for recurrence are classical objects in topological dynamics. We describe relations between recurrence in different sorts of systems, study ways to formulate finite versions of recurrence, and describe connections to combinatorial problems. In particular, we show that sets of Bohr recurrence (meaning sets of recurrence for rotations) suffice for recurrence in nilsystems. Additionally, we prove an extension of this property for multiple recurrence in affine systems.

We prove a structure theorem for multiplicative functions which states that an arbitrary bounded multiplicative function can be decomposed into two terms, one that is approximately periodic and another that has small Gowers uniformity norm of an arbitrary degree. The proof uses tools from higher order Fourier analysis and some soft number theoretic input that comes in the form of an orthogonality criterion of K\'atai. We use variants of this structure theorem to derive applications of number theoretic and combinatorial flavor: $(i)$ we give simple necessary and sufficient conditions for the Gowers norms (over $\mathbb{N}$) of a bounded multiplicative function to be zero, $(ii)$ generalizing a classical result of Daboussi and Delange we prove asymptotic orthogonality of multiplicative functions to "irrational" nilsequences, $(iii)$ we prove that for certain polynomials in two variables all "aperiodic" multiplicative functions satisfy Chowla's zero mean conjecture, $(iv)$ we give the first partition regularity results for homogeneous quadratic equations in three variables showing for example that on every partition of the integers into finitely many cells there exist distinct $x,y$ belonging to the same cell and $\lambda\in \mathbb{N}$ such that $16x^2+9y^2=\lambda^2$ and the same holds for the equation $x^2-xy+y^2=\lambda^2$., Comment: 80 pages. References added and referee's comments incorporated. To appear in the Journal of the American Mathematical Society

Since the theorems of Schur and van der Waerden, numerous partition regularity results have been proved for linear equations, but progress has been scarce for non-linear ones, the hardest case being equations in three variables. We prove partition regularity for certain equations involving forms in three variables, showing for example that the equations $16x^2+9y^2=n^2$ and $x^2+y^2-xy=n^2$ are partition regular, where $n$ is allowed to vary freely in $\mathbb{N}$. For each such problem we establish a density analogue that can be formulated in ergodic terms as a recurrence property for actions by dilations on a probability space. Our key tool for establishing such recurrence properties is a decomposition result for multiplicative functions which is of independent interest. Roughly speaking, it states that the arbitrary multiplicative function of modulus 1 can be decomposed into two terms, one that is approximately periodic and another that has small Gowers uniformity norm of degree three., Comment: 47 pages. Some corrections made. This article is subsumed by arXiv:1403.0945 and will therefore not be published

Nilsystems are a natural generalization of rotations and arise in various contexts, including in the study of multiple ergodic averages in ergodic theory, in the structural analysis of topological dynamical systems, and in asymptotics for patterns in certain subsets of the integers. We show, however, that many natural classes in both measure preserving systems and topological dynamical systems contain no higher order nilsystems as factors, meaning that the only nilsystems they contain as factors are rotations. In the ergodic setting, we show that there are spectral obstructions that give rise to this behavior. In the topological setting, nilsystems have a particular type of complexity of polynomial growth, where the polynomial (with explicit degree) is an asymptotic both from below and above. We also deduce several ergodic and topological applications of these results., Comment: Includes shorter proof of a stronger ergodic result and a significant strengthening of the topological results

Given a factor map $p : (X,T) \to (Y,S)$ of Cantor minimal systems, we study the relations between the dimension groups of the two systems. First, we interpret the torsion subgroup of the quotient of the dimension groups $K_0(X)/K_0(Y)$ in terms of intermediate extensions which are extensions of $(Y,S)$ by a compact abelian group. Then we show that, by contrast, the existence of an intermediate non-abelian finite group extension can produce a situation where the dimension group of $(Y,S)$ embeds into a proper subgroup of the dimension group of $(X,T)$, yet the quotient of the dimension groups is nonetheless torsion free. Next we define higher order cohomology groups $H^n(X \mid Y)$ associated to an extension, and study them in various cases (proximal extensions, extensions by, not necessarily abelian, finite groups, etc.). Our main result here is that all the cohomology groups $H^n(X \mid Y)$ are torsion groups. As a consequence we can now identify $H^0(X \mid Y)$ as the torsion group of $ K_0(X)/K_0(Y)$.

We give estimates on the logarithmic Sobolev constant of some finite lamplighter graphs in terms of the spectral gap of the underlying base. Also, we give examples of application.

Gowers norms have been studied extensively both in the direct sense, starting with a function and understanding the associated norm, and in the inverse sense, starting with the norm and deducing properties of the function. Instead of focusing on the norms themselves, we study associated dual norms and dual functions. Combining this study with a variant of the Szemeredi Regularity Lemma, we give a decomposition theorem for dual functions, linking the dual norms to classical norms and indicating that the dual norm is easier to understand than the norm itself. Using the dual functions, we introduce higher order algebras that are analogs of the classical Fourier algebra, which in turn can be used to further characterize the dual functions.

If $\vf_1, ... \vf_m\colon\Z\to\Z^\ell$ are polynomials with zero constant terms and $E\subset\Z^\ell$ has positive upper Banach density, then we show that the set $E\cap (E-\vf_1(p-1))\cap\...\cap (E-\vf_m(p-1))$ is nonempty for some prime $p$. We also prove mean convergence for the associated averages along the prime numbers, conditional to analogous convergence results along the full integers. This generalizes earlier results of the authors, of Wooley and Ziegler, and of Bergelson, Leibman and Ziegler., Comment: 13 pages. Small changes suggested by the referee incorporated. To appear in Israel Journal of Mathematics

We prove mean convergence, as $N\to\infty$, for the multiple ergodic averages $\frac{1}{N}\sum_{n=1}^N f_1(T_1^{p_1(n)}x)... f_\ell(T_\ell^{p_\ell(n)}x)$, where $p_1,...,p_\ell$ are integer polynomials with distinct degrees, and $T_1,...,T_\ell$ are commuting, invertible measure preserving transformations, acting on the same probability space. This establishes several cases of a conjecture of Bergelson and Leibman, that complement the case of linear polynomials, recently established by Tao. Furthermore, we show that, unlike the case of linear polynomials, for polynomials of distinct degrees, the corresponding characteristic factors are mixtures of inverse limits of nilsystems. We use this particular structure, together with some equidistribution results on nilmanifolds, to give an application to multiple recurrence and a corresponding one to combinatorics., Comment: 44 pages, small correction in the proof of Lemma 7.5, appeared in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society

We characterize inverse limits of nilsystems in topological dynamics, via a structure theorem for topological dynamical systems that is an analog of the structure theorem for measure preserving systems. We provide two applications of the structure. The first is to nilsequences, which have played an important role in recent developments in ergodic theory and additive combinatorics; we give a characterization that detects if a given sequence is a nilsequence by only testing properties locally, meaning on finite intervals. The second application is the construction of the maximal nilfactor of any order in a distal minimal topological dynamical system. We show that this factor can be defined via a certain generalization of the regionally proximal relation that is used to produce the maximal equicontin uous factor and corresponds to the case of order 1.

We study relations between subsets of integers that are large, where large can be interpreted in terms of size (such as a set of positive upper density or a set with bounded gaps) or in terms of additive structure (such as a Bohr set). Bohr sets are fundamentally abelian in nature and are linked to Fourier analysis. Recently it has become apparent that a higher order, non-abelian, Fourier analysis plays a role in both additive combinatorics and in ergodic theory. Here we introduce a higher order version of Bohr sets and give various properties of these objects, generalizing results of Bergelson, Furstenberg, and Weiss.

Recently, T. Tao gave a finitary proof a convergence theorem for multiple averages with several commuting transformations and soon later, T. Austin gave an ergodic proof of the same result. Although we give here one more proof of the same theorem, this is not the main goal of this paper. Our main concern is to provide some tools for the case of several commuting transformations, similar to the tools successfully used in the case of a single transformation, with the idea that they will be useful in the solution of other problems.

The present paper explores substitution minimal systems and their relation to stationary Bratteli diagrams and stationary dimension groups. The constructions involved are algorithmic and explicit, and render an effective method to compute an invariant of (ordered) $K$-theoretic nature for these systems. This new invariant is independent of spectral invariants which have previously been extensively studied. Before we state the main results we give some background.

The class of linearly recurrent Cantor systems contains the substitution subshifts and some odometers. For substitution subshifts and odometers measure--theoretical and continuous eigenvalues are the same. It is natural to ask whether this rigidity property remains true for the class of linearly recurrent Cantor systems. We give partial answers to this question.

A key tool in recent advances in understanding arithmetic progressions and other patterns in subsets of the integers is certain norms or seminorms. One example is the norms on $\Z/N\Z$ introduced by Gowers in his proof of Szemer\'edi's Theorem, used to detect uniformity of subsets of the integers. Another example is the seminorms on bounded functions in a measure preserving system (associated to the averages in Furstenberg's proof of Szemer\'edi's Theorem) defined by the authors. For each integer $k\geq 1$, we define seminorms on $\ell^\infty(\Z)$ analogous to these norms and seminorms. We study the correlation of these norms with certain algebraically defined sequences, which arise from evaluating a continuous function on the homogeneous space of a nilpotent Lie group on a orbit (the nilsequences). Using these seminorms, we define a dual norm that acts as an upper bound for the correlation of a bounded sequence with a nilsequence. We also prove an inverse theorem for the seminorms, showing how a bounded sequence correlates with a nilsequence. As applications, we derive several ergodic theoretic results, including a nilsequence version of the Wiener-Wintner ergodic theorem, a nil version of a corollary to the spectral theorem, and a weighted multiple ergodic convergence theorem.

Nilsequences arose in the study of the multiple ergodic averages associated to Furstenberg's proof of Szemer\'edi's Theorem and have since played a role in problems in additive combinatorics. Nilsequences are a generalization of almost periodic sequences and we study which portions of the classical theory for almost periodic sequences can be generalized for two step nilsequences. We state and prove basic properties for 2-step nilsequences and give a classification scheme for them.

A classic family in topological dynamics is that of minimal rotations. One natural extension of this family is the class of nilsystems and their inverse limits. These systems have arisen in recent applications in ergodic theory and in additive combinatorics, renewing interest in studying these classical objects. Minimal rotations can be characterized via the regionally proximal relation. We introduce a new relation, the bi-regionally proximal relation, and show that it characterizes inverse limits of two step nilsystems. Minimal rotations are linked to almost periodic sequences, and more generally nilsystems correspond to nilsequences. Theses sequences were introduced in ergodic theory and have since be used in some questions of Numer Theory. Using our characterization of two step nilsystems we deduce a characterization of two step nilsequences. The proofs rely on in an essential way the study of "parallelepiped structures'' developed by B. Kra and the first author.

B. Green and T. Tao have recently proved that 'the set of primes contains arbitrary long arithmetic progressions', answering to an old question with a remarkably simple formulation. The proof does not use any "transcendental" method and any of the deep theorems of analytic number theory. It is written in a 'spirit' close to ergodic theory and in particular of Furstenberg's proof of Szemer\'{e}di's Theorem, but it does not use any result of this theory. Therefore the method can be considered as elementary, which does not mean easy. We entend here to present the mains ideas of this proof., Comment: Notes pour l'expos\'{e} No 944 (2004-2005) au S\'{e}minaire Bourbaki

For any measure preserving system $(X,\mathcal{X},\mu,T)$ and $A\in\mathcal{X}$ with $\mu(A)>0$, we show that there exist infinitely many primes $p$ such that $\mu\bigl(A\cap T^{-(p-1)}A\cap T^{-2(p-1)}A\bigr) > 0$ (the same holds with $p-1$ replaced by $p+1$). Furthermore, we show the existence of the limit in $L^2(\mu)$ of the associated ergodic average over the primes. A key ingredient is a recent result of Green and Tao on the von Mangoldt function. A combinatorial consequence is that every subset of the integers with positive upper density contains an arithmetic progression of length three and common difference of the form $p-1$ (or $p+1$) for some prime $p$., Comment: 14 pages. To appear in Crelle's Journal

These notes are based on a course for a general audience given at the Centro de Modeliamento Matem\'atico of the University of Chile, in December 2004. We study the mean convergence of multiple ergodic averages, that is, averages of a product of functions taken at different times. We also describe the relations between this area of ergodic theory and some classical and some recent results in additive number theory.

In his proof of Szemeredi's Theorem, Gowers introduced certain norms that are defined on a parallelepiped structure. A natural question is on which sets a parallelepiped structure (and thus a Gowers norm) can be defined. We focus on dimensions 2 and 3 and show when this possible, and describe a correspondence between the parallelepiped structures nilpotent groups.