English

Irregular Stanley sequences plausibly do not have growth $\Theta(n^2/\log n)$

Number Theory 2025-12-16 v1 Numerical Analysis Numerical Analysis

Abstract

Stanley sequences starting from the set {0,n}\{0, n\} where nn is a positive integer have long been conjectured to be divided into two types: the "regular" type where the growth rate is Θ(nlog2(3))\Theta(n^{\log_2(3)}), and the "irregular" type where the growth rate is thought to be Θ(n2/logn)\Theta(n^2/\log n). A paradigmatic case of a candidate irregular type is n=4n=4, although to date no value of nn has been proven to have such a growth rate. Here, we provide strong numerical evidence against this conjectured growth rate for n=4n=4. Specifically, for n=4n=4, it seems plausible that the upper bound is O(n2/logn)O(n^2/\log n) but that the lower bound is in fact Ω(n2δ)\Omega(n^{2-\delta}) for some δ>0\delta > 0. This appears to be because the sequence is not totally "random" as has been assumed. Limitations of the numerical method here is discussed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.11983,
  title  = {Irregular Stanley sequences plausibly do not have growth $\Theta(n^2/\log n)$},
  author = {Nat Sothanaphan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.11983},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

10 pages, 3 figures