The Finite Field Distance Problem

Book excerpt: Erdős asked how many distinct distances must there be in a set of n n points in the plane. Falconer asked a continuous analogue, essentially asking what is the minimal Hausdorff dimension required of a compact set in order to guarantee that the set of distinct distances has positive Lebesgue measure in R R. The finite field distance problem poses the analogous question in a vector space over a finite field. The problem is relatively new but remains tantalizingly out of reach. This book provides an accessible, exciting summary of known results. The tools used range over combinatorics, number theory, analysis, and algebra. The intended audience is graduate students and advanced undergraduates interested in investigating the unknown dimensions of the problem. Results available until now only in the research literature are clearly explained and beautifully motivated. A concluding chapter opens up connections to related topics in combinatorics and number theory: incidence theory, sum-product phenomena, Waring's problem, and the Kakeya conjecture.