English

Parity vectors and paradoxical sequences in the accelerated Collatz map

Number Theory 2026-05-22 v2

Abstract

This note studies parity vectors and paradoxical sequences in the accelerated Collatz iteration T(n)=(3n+1)/2T(n) = (3n+1)/2 for nn odd, T(n)=n/2T(n) = n/2 for nn even. Building on Rozier and Terracol (arXiv:2502.00948, 2025), Terras (1976), Lagarias (1985), and Tao (2019), we prove three theorems and add one numerical observation. The first is a sharp finitary form of Terras's parity-vector density; the second is a closed-form analytic count of paradoxical Ωk(n)\Omega_k(n) for each fixed length kk. The third is a density-zero theorem for bounded-length paradoxical sequences with explicit constant. As for the numerical piece, among the seven (j,q)(j, q) pairs that show up in the Rozier-Terracol enumeration with first term n109n \le 10^9, every paradoxical reduced ratio q/jq/j turns out to be a left convergent, a left semiconvergent, or a Stern-Brocot mediant of adjacent convergents/semiconvergents of log32\log_3 2. The three theorems are unconditional. The fourth observation is verified for n107n \le 10^7 and conjectured for all nn. We make no claim toward the Collatz conjecture or Terras's coefficient-stopping-time conjecture.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.13886,
  title  = {Parity vectors and paradoxical sequences in the accelerated Collatz map},
  author = {Tong Niu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.13886},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

v2: withdrawn - Rozier and Terracol arXiv:2502.00948v4 (April 2026) already enumerate the 593 paradoxical sequences in the accelerated Collatz map up to length 60 and identify the seven (j,q) pairs; the (46,73) mediant observation follows routinely from their data. Withdrawing to avoid duplication

R2 v1 2026-07-22T07:10:49.242Z