English

Infinite Random Power Towers

Probability 2024-01-30 v3

Abstract

We prove a probabilistic generalization of the classic result that infinite power towers, ccc^{c^{\dots}}, converge if and only if c[ee,e1/e]c\in[e^{-e},e^{1/e}]. Given an i.i.d. sequence {Ai}iN\{A_i\}_{i\in\mathbb N}, we find that convergence of the power tower A1A2A_1^{A_2^{\dots}} is determined by the bounds of A1A_1's support, a=inf(supp(A1))a=\inf(\mathrm{supp}(A_1)) and b=sup(supp(A1))b=\sup(\mathrm{supp}(A_1)). When b[ee,e1/e]b\in[e^{-e},e^{1/e}], a<1<ba<1<b, or a=0a=0, the power tower converges almost surely. When b<eeb<e^{-e}, we define a special function BB such that almost sure convergence is equivalent to a<B(b)a<B(b). Only in the case when a=1a=1 and b>e1/eb>e^{1/e} are the values of aa and bb insufficient to determine convergence. We show a rather complicated necessary and sufficient condition for convergence when a=1a=1 and bb is finite. We also briefly discuss the relationship between the distribution of A1A_1 and the corresponding power tower T=A1A2T=A_1^{A_2^{\dots}}. For example, when TUnif[0,1]T\sim\mathrm{Unif}[0,1], then the corresponding distribution of A1A_1 is given by UVUV where U,VUnif[0,1]U,V\sim\mathrm{Unif}[0,1] are independent. We generalize this example by showing that for UUnif[α,β]U\sim\mathrm{Unif}[\alpha,\beta] and rRr\in\mathbb R, there exists an i.i.d. sequence {Ai}iN\{A_i\}_{i\in\mathbb N} such that Ur=dA1A2U^r \stackrel{d}{=} A_1^{A_2^{\dots}} if and only if r[0,11+logβ]r\in[0, \frac1{1+\log \beta}].}

Cite

@article{arxiv.2207.00916,
  title  = {Infinite Random Power Towers},
  author = {Mark Dalthorp},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2207.00916},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

27 pages, 2 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-24T12:12:11.132Z