English

There are no cycles in the $3n+1$ sequence

General Mathematics 2017-06-28 v2

Abstract

In 1937, Lothar Collatz conjectured that the sequence generated by the rule f(n)=3n+1f(n)=3n+1 for nNn\in\mathbb{N} odd, f(n)=n/2f(n)=n/2 for nNn\in\mathbb{N} even, starting in any positive integer nn produces 11. This is equivalent to (1) there are no cycles except the trivial one, (1-4-2-1), and (2) there is no infinite sequence. We prove (1) using graph theory and linear algebra.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1706.08399,
  title  = {There are no cycles in the $3n+1$ sequence},
  author = {Ivan Slapnicar},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1706.08399},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

There is a flaw in the last part of the proof

R2 v1 2026-06-22T20:29:42.250Z