Partition Rank and Partition Lattices

We introduce a universal approach for applying the partition rank method, an extension of Tao’s slice rank polynomial method, to tensors that are not diagonal. This is accomplished by generalizing Naslund’s distinctness indicator to what we call a partition indicator. The advantages of partition indicators are two-fold: they diagonalize tensors that are constant when specified sets of variables are equal, and even in more general settings they can often substantially reduce the partition rank as compared to when a distinctness indicator is applied. The key to our discoveries is integrating the partition rank method with Möbius inversion on the lattice of partitions of a finite set. Through this we unify disparate applications of the partition rank method in the literature. We then use our theory to address a finite field analogue of a question of Erdős, thereby generalizing results of Hart and Iosevich and independently Shparlinski. Furthermore we generalize work of Pach et al. on bounding sizes of sets avoiding right triangles to bounding sizes of sets avoiding right k-configurations.