Lower bounds in the polynomial Szemerédi theorem

Abstract: We construct large subsets of the first $N$ positive integers which avoid certain arithmetic configurations. In particular, we construct a set of order $N^{0.7685}$ lacking the configuration ${x,x+y,x+y^2},$ surpassing the $N^{3/4}$ limit of Ruzsa's construction for sets lacking a square difference. We also extend Ruzsa's construction to sets lacking polynomial differences for a wide class of univariate polynomials. Finally, we turn to multivariate differences, constructing a set of order $N^{1/2}$ lacking a difference equal to a sum of two squares. This is in contrast to the analogous problem of sets lacking a difference equal to a prime minus one, where the current record is of order $N^{o(1)}.$