We characterize the power of constant-depth Boolean circuits in generating uniform symmetric distributions. Let $f:\{0,1\}^m \rightarrow \{0,1\}^n$ be a Boolean function where each output bit of $f$ depends only on $O(1)$ input bits. Assume the output distribution of $f$ on uniform input bits is close to a uniform distribution $D$ with a symmetric support. We show that $D$ is essentially one of the following six possibilities: (1) point distribution on $0^n$, (2) point distribution on $1^n$, (3) uniform over $\{0^n,1^n\}$, (4) uniform over strings with even Hamming weights, (5) uniform over strings with odd Hamming weights, and (6) uniform over all strings. This confirms a conjecture of Filmus, Leigh, Riazanov, and Sokolov (RANDOM 2023).
Joint work with Daniel M. Kane and Anthony Ostuni.

For any subset $A$ of a commutative ring $R$ (or, more generally, an $R$-module $M$) and any elements $\lambda_1, \dots, \lambda_k$ of $R$, let

\[\lambda_1 \cdot A + \cdots + \lambda_k \cdot A = \{\lambda_1 a_1 + \cdots + \lambda_k a_k : a_1, \dots, a_k \in A\}.\]

Such sums of dilates have attracted considerable attention in recent years, with the basic problem asking for an estimate on the minimum size of $|\lambda_1 \cdot A + \cdots + \lambda_k \cdot A|$ given $|A|$. In this talk, I will discuss various generalizations and settings of this problem, and share recent progress. This is based on joint work with David Conlon.