Questions tagged [collatz-conjecture]
The Collatz Conjecture, also known as the 3n+1 conjecture, is a famous open problem named after Lothar Collatz.
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Would proving that every positive integer > 1 gets mapped to 1 and only 1 unique point in the 2D plane be useful for proving Collatz Conjecture? [closed]
Before diving into the topic of the Collatz Conjecture, I'd like to briefly share my background, not as a means of boasting, but to provide some context to my perspective. I studied computer science ...
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New Questions About Collatz Conjecture // Q1: Is there a cluster {o, L} for any odd number? [closed]
Odd Transformation Sequences (OTS) and Their Encoding in the Context of the Collatz Conjecture.
Introduction
The Collatz Conjecture, a longstanding problem in number theory, can be reframed through ...
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Finding a strictly increasing Collatz sequence of arbitrary length [closed]
Is there a formula to construct a Collatz (3x + 1) sequence of arbitrary length that is strictly increasing? Obviously one can do this with a strictly decreasing sequence by just taking $2^n$ but I ...
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A mutation of the Collatz disease
Given $k \in \mathbb N$, we define $f_k: \mathbb N \longrightarrow \mathbb N$ by
$$ f_k(x) = \begin{cases} \,\quad\dfrac{x}2 &\text{ if } x \text{ is even} \\\\ \dfrac{3x+3^k}{2} & \text{ if } ...
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First odd term of the sequence lower odd number $n$ related to the $3\cdot n+1$ problem
I have already asked on math.stackexchange if you think the question is off topic I can delete it.
I'm trying to complete the following graph but I'm not sure if I can complete it without getting an ...
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How would one go about solving this conjecture concerning exponential Diophantine equations?
I’ve been working on the Collatz Conjecture, and I believe I’ve reduced it to a more tractable problem. Unless there are some errors I’ve overlooked, I have managed to reduce the Collatz Conjecture to ...
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If proven that all Collatz sequences attain bounded values, is it also proven that all sequences end up below the number you start from?
I was researching upon the Collatz conjecture, and I was reading all the research work done by mathematicians including Terry Tao's. I had read that before Terry Tao's research it was proven that ...
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Reference on the Collatz conjecture [closed]
I'm just looking for references in the literature for some observations I made for fun about the Collatz conjecture.
The Collatz conjecture states that any positive integer $n$ can eventually be ...
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The two Collatz-maps associated to characters modulo 8
Given a Dirichlet character $\chi$ modulo $8$ we consider the map $\mu(x)=x/2$ if $x$ is even and $\mu(x)=(3x+\chi(x))/2$ otherwise.
(The corresponding map for $\chi$ the trivial Dirichlet character ...
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Has the Collatz been investigated as a recursive function?
Does anyone ever write the Collatz conjecture as a single algebraic, recursive sequence? For example, a crude version might be:
$$
g(n+1)=\delta _{1,g(n)}+(1-\delta _{1,g(n)})*\left(\left(\frac{cos(\...
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Can anyone recommend a reference where the collatz conjecture is viewed as a combinatorics problem?
It occurs to me that the question about whether non-trivial cycles exist for the collatz conjecture can be restated as these two questions (details on how this relates to the collatz conjecture can be ...
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Polynomials, $3^x$ and the Collatz conjecture
$\DeclareMathOperator\Orb{Orb}\newcommand\abs[1]{\lvert#1\rvert}$The Collatz or the $3n+1$ conjecture is open.
Are there non-trivial polynomials $f(x)\in\mathbb Z[x]$ and $g(x)\in\mathbb R[x]$ having ...
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Is Collatz conjecture known to be true for specific numbers?
The Collatz or the $3n+1$ conjecture is open.
Is there a specific polynomial $f(x)\in\mathbb Z[x]$ whose range is unbounded for which every integer of form $|f(m)|$ at $m\in\mathbb Z$ satisfies $3n+1$...
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Can you explain this weird pattern in Collatz conjecture? [closed]
Extreme disproportion in the dispersion of "Digital Roots" of the highest numbers reach in the Collatz Conjecture.
I calculated the Digital Root remainder mod 9 for the highest numbers ...
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Summary of “Almost All Orbits of the Collatz Map Attain Almost Bounded Values”
Terence Tao's 2019 paper ``Almost all Orbits of the Collatz map attain almost bounded values" is pretty famous. However, it's also long and complicated. I think there are useful techniques to ...
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Does this iterating process always returns to 0 for positive $a_0$?
Given $a_0$ be an positive integer, define
$$ a_{n+1} =
\begin{cases}
8a_n, & \text{if $a_n$ is odd} \\
\lfloor a_n/3\rfloor, & \text{if $a_n$ is even}
\end{cases}$$
Now form the sequence $(...
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Surreal numbers and the Collatz iteration as a game?
Let us define a game based on the Collatz function $C(n) = n/2$ if $n$ is even, otherwise $=3n+1$.
Each number $n$ represents a game played by left $L$ and right $R$:
$$n = \{L_n | R_n \}$$
The rules ...
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Generating functions of Collatz iterates?
Let $C(n) = n/2$ if $n$ is even and $3n+1$ otherwise be the Collatz function.
We look at the generating function $f_n(x) = \sum_{k=0}^\infty C^{(k)}(n)x^k$ of the iterates of the Collatz function.
The ...
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Collatz conjecture and a diophantine equation
Let $M \ge 2$. Inspired by the Collatz iteration / algorithm ($M=2$), I tried the following function:
$$C_M(n) = n/M, \text{ if } n \equiv 0 \mod M, \text{ otherwise } (M+1)n+\{(M-n) \mod M \}$$
We ...
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When is $\{b^2 - \{b-1\}_2\}_2=1$ with odd $b$? (The bracket-notation explained below)
For the complete extraction of the factor $p$ and its powers from a natural number $n$
let's define the notation $$ \{n\}_p := { n \over p^{\nu_p(n)}} \tag 1$$
$ \qquad \qquad $ Here $\nu_p(n)$ means ...
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Generalized Collatz sequences
Let $\mathbb{N}$ denote the set of positive integers. For $k\in\mathbb{N}$ let $c_k:\mathbb{N}\to\mathbb{N}$ be defined by $x\mapsto x/2$ for $x$ even and $x\mapsto kx+1$ otherwise. The Collatz ...
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What is the quotient (pseudo)metric $d_\sim$ and how do I identify the infimum of possible sequences in this instance?
Let $Z$ be the the set of dyadic and ternary rationals in the interval $\left[\frac12,1\right)$ whose 3-adic valuation is either $-1$ or $0$, with the standard absolute value topology inherited from ...
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Collatz conjecture in all its variants
There are all kinds of execution variants to the collatz conjecture for when hitting an odd number:
$3n+1$ or $3n+3^a$ or $1.5n + 0.5$ or $1.5n + 1.5$... . The assumption is: proving any of them will ...
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Does this prove Collatz is a $\Sigma_1$ problem?
So I got an email from one of my colleagues on the Collatz Conjecture with a link to the article Computer Scientists Attempt to Corner the Collatz Conjecture by Kevin Hartnett in Quanta Magazine.
On ...
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Heuristic for a density conjecture related to the Collatz $(3x+1)$-problem
First, some notation. Define $T(n)$ over $n\in \mathbb{N}$ as:
$$
T(n) = \left\{ \begin{array}{}
3n+1, & \text{if $n$ is odd}\ \\
n/2, & \text{if $n$ is even}
\end{array} \right.
$$
...
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A possibly easy question about latent geometry in Collatz sequences
I have a question about some (seemingly unimportant) behavior I noticed in Collatz sequences, which I haven't been able to find a general answer to upon rough scan of the literature (please be aware ...
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The irrational numbers α such that n odd and m=⌊nα⌋ odd implies ⌊mα⌋ odd
This post is the analogous of that one (about $\sqrt{2}$) but with a much stronger expectation here.
We observed, and then this comment of Lucia proved, that for $\phi$ the golden ratio, if $n$ ...
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Unexpected behavior involving √2 and parity
This post makes a focus on a very specific part of that long post. Consider the following map:
$$f: n \mapsto \left\{
\begin{array}{ll}
\left \lfloor{n/\sqrt{2}} \right \rfloor & \...
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Borderline Collatz-like problems
The usual Collatz map is $C:n \mapsto n/2$ if $n$ even, $(3n+1)/2$ if $n$ odd. Let $f^{\circ (r+1)}:=f \circ f^{\circ r}$.
We suspect that for every fixed $n>0$, the sequence $C^{\circ r}(n)$ ...
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Arithmetic progressions in stopping time of Collatz sequences
Inspired by the question here, we did a few more simulations of numbers of some specific forms and noticed a pattern.
We consider the original $3n+1$ transform where we divide by $2$ if it's even and ...
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Proof that $3^ns + \sum_{k=0}^{n-1} 3^{n-k-1}2^{a_k}=2^m.$
How would I go about proving the following:
For any odd positive integer $s$, there exists a sequence of nonnegative integers $( a_0, a_1, \cdots, a_{n-1})$ and a nonnegative integer $m$ such that,
$...
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Explicit bounds from Tao's result on Collatz conjecture
A new preprint by Terry Tao has recently appeared and has established some interesting results regarding the topic of Collatz conjecture. I will not cite the precise result, but rather an equivalent ...
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A complementary of the Collatz $3x+1$ problem
Let $\mathbb{N}_{\text{odd}}$ be the set of odd positive integers. For $x_0 \in \mathbb{N}_{\text{odd}}$
consider the set-valued sequence $\{A_n\}_{n=0}^{\infty}$ defined by the formula
$$
A_0 = \{...
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Two reasons why the Collatz conjecture could fail
Let $\mathbb{N}$ denote the set of positive integers. The Collatz function $f:\mathbb{N}\to\mathbb{N}$ is given by $f(n) = n/2$ for $n$ even and $f(n) = 3n+1$ for $n$ odd. Given $k\in\mathbb{N}$ we ...
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For which primes does this iterated function act transitively? (Sort of a finite analogue of Collatz conjecture.)
Background: I was trying to prove something having to do with cyclic group actions on matroids and was able to show that what I want holds if a particular elementary-looking number-theoretic property ...
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Is there a known Turing machine which halts if and only if the Collatz conjecture has a counterexample?
Some of the simplest and most interesting unproved conjectures in mathematics are Goldbach's conjecture, the Riemann hypothesis, and the Collatz conjecture.
Goldbach's conjecture asserts that every ...
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Are there integral solutions for $(2a-1)(2^{(b+c)}-3^c )=2^b-1$?
Can anyone prove this assertion? Or at least suggest a method of attack? It has come up in my research.
There do not exist $a,b$ and $c$ such that$$
(2a-1)(2^{(b+c)}-3^c )=2^b-1
$$where $a>0,b&...
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Density of the Klarner-Rado Sequence
Consider the Klarner-Rado sequence OEIS A005658 defined by the rule: the sequence starts with 1, and if it contains $n$ it also contains $2n$, $3n+2$ and $6n+3$. According to R. Guy's popular article,...
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How can I catalog these generalized Collatz problems?
The Collatz conjecture can be expressed in terms of a ruleset in the language $\{x,+,1,\rightarrow,;\}$:
$x + x + 1 \rightarrow x+x+x+1+1;$
$x + x \rightarrow x;$
Whenever a number matches the LHS ...
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Extension of Coburn's theorem on isometry and Toeplitz algebra
$\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}$Let $H$ be a Hilbert space, and $X \in B(H)$ a proper isometry (i.e. $X^{\star}X = \id$ and $XX^{\star} \neq \id$). Coburn's theorem states that ${\rm C}^{\star}(X)$, ...
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A problem involving the inverse Collatz map
Let $C$ be the Collatz map on the natural numbers, defined by:
$$C(n) :=
\begin{cases}
n/2 & \text{if} \;n \;\text{even} \\
(3n+1)/2 & \text{if} \;n \;\text{odd}
\end{cases}$$
The inverse ...
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Identification of Invariant Sets for Discrete Dynamical Systems on the Positive Integers
Let $\phi:\mathbb{N}\times \mathbb{N}^+\rightarrow \mathbb{N}^+$ be a dynamical system on the positive integers. Suppose we refer to the orbit of a periodic point of $\phi$ as an invariant set of the ...
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Undecidable easy arithmetical statement
Is there a basic arithmetic statement which is known to be undecidable ?
By basic arithmetic statement I do mean an easy statement in the spirit of the Collatz conjecture . By the way is there some ...
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Are there infinitely many solutions of $2^k=3^z-1$ with $k,z \in \mathbb{N}$? [duplicate]
This question arose as an attempt to answer the following question Relaxed Collatz 3x+1 conjecture. I wanted to show that there is a solution of the equation $2^{k}=3^{z}(2n+1)-1$ for each $n\geq 2$,
...
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A Zsigmondy-theorem-analogy in the generalized Collatz-problem $3x+\rho$?
Remark : I've found a rather trivial answer for this question and so very likely the premise of paralleling it with the Zsigmondy-theorem is wrong, so this question might better be retracted. I'll ...
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A Collatz-like problem on prime numbers
Consider the function $f$ on the prime numbers defined by $$ f(p):= \text{ the greatest prime factor of } 2p+1.$$ The iteration of $f$ from any prime $p<10^8$ converges to the cycle $$(3,7,5,11,23,...
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Possible behaviors of integer sequences that arise from powering nonnegative integer matrices
Let's call a sequence of nonnegative integers $x_1,x_2,\ldots$ matrix-realizable, if there exists a $k\times k$ nonnegative integer matrix $A$ (for some $k$), as well as nonnegative integer vectors $u,...
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Collatz-like properties of finite fields
I was wondering what an equivalent of the Collatz conjecture might be for finite fields. In a Collatz sequence a number is moved down within a set $\{2^k n : k \in \mathbb{Z}^* \}$ for some odd $n$ or ...
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Does 53 diverge to infinity in this Collatz-like sequence?
This function has been explored a bit at MSE (in June 2016):
\begin{eqnarray}
f(n) &=& (n-1)^2 \; \textrm{if} \; (n \bmod 4) = 1\\
f(n) &=& \lfloor n/4 \rfloor \; \textrm{otherwise}
\...
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Some Questions on the Collatz conjecture (reexpressed as "equivalence relation")
The set of all positive whole numbers is denoted by $\mathbb{N}_+$.
Let $f\colon\ \mathbb{N}_+\to\mathbb{N}_+:n\mapsto
\begin{cases}\frac{n}{2}&\text{$n$ even}\\3n+1&\text{$n$ odd}\end{cases}$...
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