of zero measure would be a set of uniqueness — in one dimension the locality principle for Fourier series shows that any set of positive measure is a set of multiplicity (in higher dimensions this is still an open question). This was disproved by D. E. Menshov who in 1916 constructed an example of a set of multiplicity which has measure zero. Transformations A translation and dilation of a set of uniqueness is a set of uniqueness. A union of a countable family of closed sets of uniqueness is a set of uniqueness. There exists an example of two sets of uniqueness whose union is not a set of uniqueness, but the sets in this example are not Borel. It is an open problem whether the union of any two Borel sets of uniqueness is a set of uniqueness. Singular distributions A closed set is a set of uniqueness if and only if there exists a distribution S supported on the set (so in particular it must be singular) such that ( here are the Fourier coefficients). In all early examples of sets of uniqueness the distribution in question was in fact a measure. In 1954, though, Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro constructed an example of a set of uniqueness which does not support any measure with Fourier coefficients tending to zero. In other words, the generalization of distribution is necessary. Complexity of structure The first evidence that sets of uniqueness have complex structure came from the study of Cantor-like sets. Salem and Zygmund showed that a Cantor-like set with dissection ratio ξ is a set of uniqueness if and only if 1/ξ is a Pisot number, that is an algebraic integer with the property that all its conjugates (if any) are smaller than 1. This was the first demonstration that the property of being a set of uniqueness has to do with arithmetic properties and not just some concept of size (Nina Bari had proved the case of ξ rational -- the Cantor-like set is a set of uniqueness if and only if 1/ξ is an integer -- a few years earlier). Since the 50s, much work has gone into formalizing this complexity. The family of sets of uniqueness, considered as a set inside the space of compact sets (see Hausdorff distance), was located inside the analytical hierarchy. A crucial part in this research is played by the index of the set,