set of numbers created by arithmetic operations on a set

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I recently went to a math circle where we discussed arithmetic operations on a set. The main goal was to find the set of numbers that could be made by using addition, parentheses, subtraction, and multiplication on the set {${1,2,3,4}$}. The conductor of the math circle said that he was inspired by a particular paper he read. I was quite interested in the topic. Does anyone have any idea what paper he may be talking about, or any papers similar to the above topic?