Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 February 2016
We show that if a finite, large enough subset $A$ of an arbitrary abelian group $G$ satisfies the small doubling condition $|A+A|\leqslant (\log |A|)^{1-{\it\varepsilon}}|A|$, then $A$ must contain a three-term arithmetic progression whose terms are not all equal, and $A+A$ must contain an arithmetic progression or a coset of a subgroup, either of which is of size at least $\exp [c(\log |A|)^{{\it\delta}}]$. This extends analogous results obtained by Sanders, and by Croot, Łaba and Sisask in the case where $G=\mathbb{Z}$.