EN
We show that the intersection of the images of two polynomial maps on a given interval is sparse. More precisely, we prove the following. Let $f(x),g(x) ∈ 𝔽_{p}[x]$ be polynomials of degrees d and e with d ≥ e ≥ 2. Suppose M ∈ ℤ satisfies
$p^{1/E(1 + κ/(1-κ)} > M > p^ε$,
where E = e(e+1)/2 and κ = (1/d - 1/d²) (E-1)/E + ε. Assume f(x)-g(y) is absolutely irreducible. Then
$|f([0,M]) ∩ g([0, M])| ≲ M^{1-ε}$.