  Let $A=\{a_1,a_2,\dots, a_m\}$ be a subset of a finite abelian group $G$. We
call $A$ {\it $t$-independent} in $G$, if whenever
$$\lambda_1a_1+\lambda_2a_2+\cdots +\lambda_m a_m=0$$ for some integers
$\lambda_1, \lambda_2, \dots , \lambda_m$ with $$|\lambda_1|+|\lambda_2|+\cdots
+|\lambda_m| \leq t,$$ we have $\lambda_1=\lambda_2= \cdots = \lambda_m=0$, and
we say that $A$ is {\it $s$-spanning} in $G$, if every element $g$ of $G$ can
be written as $$g=\lambda_1a_1+\lambda_2a_2+\cdots +\lambda_m a_m$$ for some
integers $\lambda_1, \lambda_2, \dots , \lambda_m$ with
$$|\lambda_1|+|\lambda_2|+\cdots +|\lambda_m| \leq s.$$ In this paper we give
an upper bound for the size of a $t$-independent set and a lower bound for the
size of an $s$-spanning set in $G$, and determine some cases when this extremal
size occurs. We also discuss an interesting connection to spherical
combinatorics.
