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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3 answers
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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 ...
jwimberley's user avatar
17 votes
2 answers
1k views

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} \...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
1k views

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}$...
wijerajasdfa's user avatar
59 votes
3 answers
5k views

Relaxed Collatz 3x+1 conjecture

The Collatz $3x+1$ conjecture claims that any positive integer can eventually be reduced to $1$ by iterative application of the maps $x \mapsto 3x+1$ whenever $x$ is odd and $x \mapsto x/2$ whenever $...
Max Alekseyev's user avatar
14 votes
1 answer
413 views

A Collatz-like question about permutations

An answer to this question would provide an explicit counterexample to this question, but otherwise I don't know if it is interesting. Consider all permutations $\pi$ on the natural numbers such that ...
Brendan McKay's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
892 views

Residue class sufficiency sets for the Collatz conjecture

I have recently managed to show a sequence of sufficiency sets for the Collatz conjecture whose natural density approaches 0 (the set theoretic limit approaches the set $\{1\}$). It is an extension of ...
Jose Capco's user avatar
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47 votes
1 answer
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Transitivity on $\mathbb{N}_0$ -- a 42 problem

Let $r(m)$ denote the residue class $r+m\mathbb{Z}$, where $0 \leq r < m$. Given disjoint residue classes $r_1(m_1)$ and $r_2(m_2)$, let the class transposition $\tau_{r_1(m_1),r_2(m_2)}$ be the ...
Stefan Kohl's user avatar
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6 votes
0 answers
427 views

Are there always at least *five* divisions?

@JosephO'Rourke asked a question about a Collatz like function related to primes: $f(n) = \begin{cases} n^2 & \text{if} \;n \;\text{is prime} \\ \lfloor n/2 \rfloor & \text{if} \;n \;\text{...
Mirko's user avatar
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22 votes
3 answers
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A Collatz-like function that bifurcates on primes

This is likely piling one mystery on another, but ... I was exploring a function $f(n): \mathbb{N} \mapsto \mathbb{N}$ defined as follows: $$ f(n) = \begin{cases} n^2 & \text{if} \;n \;\text{is ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
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Collatz property implying infinite "fall below" trajectories, is it known?

(this was discovered analyzing Collatz empirically.) a key aspect of resolving Collatz involves looking at the number of iterations for trajectories to "fall below" the initial value. consider a ...
vzn's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
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3n+1 problem and cycles

Just to make sure I am up to date with this problem. I know (or I think I do) that it is not yet proven that there are no non-trivial cycles for the collatz sequence (please correct me if I am wrong). ...
Jose Capco's user avatar
  • 2,175
3 votes
0 answers
172 views

Largest permutation groups without "non-mixing" subgroups

We say that a subgroup of ${\rm Sym}(\mathbb{N})$ has sparse orbit representatives if it has infinitely many orbits on $\mathbb{N}$, but the set of smallest orbit representatives has natural density 0 ...
Stefan Kohl's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
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Beyond Collatz: A $5n+1$ conjecture? [closed]

Let $$x_{n+1} = \begin{cases} x_n/2 &;\text{if } x_n \equiv 0 \pmod{2}\\ k\,x_n+1 &; \text{if } x_n\equiv 1 \pmod{2} \end{cases}$$ and $k=3$ and $x_n\in\Bbb N$. Collatz conjectured for this ...
al-Hwarizmi's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
236 views

Group with 2 orbits on the nonnegative integers -- description of the orbits

Definition: Let $r(m)$ denote the residue class $r+m\mathbb{Z}$, where $0 \leq r < m$. Given disjoint residue classes $r_1(m_1)$ and $r_2(m_2)$, let the class transposition $\tau_{r_1(m_1),r_2(m_2)}...
Stefan Kohl's user avatar
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19 votes
3 answers
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A curious sequence of rationals: finite or infinite?

Consider the following function repeatedly applied to a rational $r = a/b$ in lowest terms: $f(a/b) = (a b) / (a + b - 1)$. So, $f(2/3) = 6/4 = 3/2$. $f(3/2) = 6/4 = 3/2$. I am wondering if it is ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Collatz stopping-time and Poisson distribution, and connection to other problems?

I read many threads about Collatz here - so don't worry, this is no attempt to any proof, just asking about a curious fact: This graph gives the stopping-time of Collatz sequences up to $n=10^8$ (...
MarkusWave's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
673 views

Point me to an attempt to Proove Collatz Conjecture by Substitution and Factor analysis? [closed]

Summary of Question: Where can I find a discussion of attempting to prove the Collatz Conjecture via substitution and abstract examination? I've done a lot of reading on the problem, including ...
Noobermath's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
1k views

Implication for cycles (of some length $m$) in Collatz-type problems: typical ratio between largest and smallest element?

Background Consider Collatz-type problems of the form $an + 1$, where $a > 2$ is a positive, odd integer (e.g., $3n + 1$, $5n +1 $, $7n + 1$, etc.). For convenience, automatically divide by two. ...
10 votes
2 answers
4k views

Larger cycle than 4, 2, 1 in Collatz iteration?

(Here I discuss the Collatz problem only for positive integers.) It is possible, by computation, to find all cycles in the Collatz iteration of a fixed length. It is clear that an increase must be ...
DavidLHarden's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
711 views

Collatz related question [closed]

Howdy, Not sure this will be entirely clear, but when considering the relationship between a start value n in the Collatz algorithm and the length of the sequence generated by n, is there a function ...
jonathan's user avatar
33 votes
1 answer
3k views

Collatz conjecture for numbers of th form $2^n +1$

Everybody has heard of the Collatz conjecture and it is a nice programming exercise to write a function, that calculates for a given number $n$ the number of iterations it takes until one reaches $1$. ...
HenrikRüping's user avatar

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