The Hofstadter consecutive-sum sequence omits infinitely many positive integers
Number Theory
2026-03-24 v2 Combinatorics
Abstract
Let be the greedy self-generating sequence defined by , , and, for , by taking to be the least integer greater than that can be written as a sum of at least two consecutive earlier terms. Hofstadter asked about the asymptotic behavior of this sequence. In this paper we prove that In particular, omits infinitely many positive integers, thereby settling a conjecture from the OEIS entry A005243.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2603.09939,
title = {The Hofstadter consecutive-sum sequence omits infinitely many positive integers},
author = {Quanyu Tang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.09939},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
16 pages, 1 figure. This is the submitted version