Related papers: On a problem of Molluzzo concerning Steinhaus tria…

A Steinhaus triangle modulo $m$ is a finite down-pointing triangle of elements in the finite cyclic group $\mathbb{Z}/m\mathbb{Z}$ satisfying the same local rule as the standard Pascal triangle modulo $m$. A Steinhaus triangle modulo $m$ is…

In this paper, we partially solve an open problem, due to J.C. Molluzzo in 1976, on the existence of balanced Steinhaus triangles modulo a positive integer $n$, that are Steinhaus triangles containing all the elements of…

We solve the currently smallest open case in the 1976 problem of Molluzzo on $\mathbb{Z}/m\mathbb{Z}$, namely the case $m=4$. This amounts to constructing, for all positive integer $n$ congruent to $0$ or $7 \bmod{8}$, a sequence of…

In this paper, we first prove that given a nonnegative integer $m$ and an odd number $t$ not divisible by $3$, there exists a unique Collatz's Sequence \[ S_{c}(m,t)=\{n_{0}(m,t),n_{1}(m,t),n_{2}(m,t),\ldots,n_{m}(m,t),n_{m+1}(m,t)\} \]…

The Collatz sequence for a given natural number $N$ is generated by repeatedly applying the map $N$ $\rightarrow$ $3N+1$ if $N$ is odd and $N$ $\rightarrow$ $N/2$ if $N$ is even. One elusive open problem in Mathematics is whether all such…

Let $N$ be a positive integer. A sequence $X=(x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_N)$ of points in the unit interval $[0,1)$ is piercing if $\{x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n\}\cap \left[\frac{i}{n},\frac{i+1}{n} \right) \neq\emptyset$ holds for every $n=1,2,\ldots, N$…

The Collatz conjecture (or ``Syracuse problem'') considers recursively-defined sequences of positive integers where $n$ is succeeded by $\tfrac{n}{2}$, if $n$ is even, or $\tfrac{3n+1}{2}$, if $n$ is odd. The conjecture states that for all…

A Steinhaus matrix is a binary square matrix of size $n$ which is symmetric, with diagonal of zeros, and whose upper-triangular coefficients satisfy $a_{i,j}=a_{i-1,j-1}+a_{i-1,j}$ for all $2\leq i<j\leq n$. Steinhaus matrices are…

The three distance theorem (also known as the three gap theorem or Steinhaus problem) states that, for any given real number $\alpha$ and integer $N$, there are at most three values for the distances between consecutive elements of the…

Let $M$ be any compact four-dimensional PL-manifold with or without boundary (e.g. the four-dimensional sphere or ball). Consider the space $T(M)$ of all simplicial isomorphism classes of triangulations of $M$ endowed with the metric…

Define the Ducci function $D: \mathbb{Z}_m^n \to \mathbb{Z}_m^n$ so \[D(x_1,x_2, ...,x_n)=(x_1+x_2 \;\text{mod} \; m, x_2+x_3 \; \text{mod} \; m, ..., x_n+x_1 \; \text{mod} \; m).\] Call $\{D^{\alpha}(\mathbf{u})\}_{\alpha=0}^{\infty}$ the…

On the set of positive integers, we consider the iterative process that maps $n$ to either $\frac{3n+1}{2}$ or $\frac{n}{2}$ depending on the parity of $n$. The Collatz conjecture states that all such sequences eventually enter the trivial…

The document tries to put focus on sequences with certain properties and periods leading to the first value smaller than the starting value in the Collatz problem. With the idea that, if all starting numbers lead ultimately to a smaller…

The 3n+1, or Collatz problem, is one of the hardest math problems, yet still unsolved. The Collatz conjecture is to prove or disprove that the Collatz sequences COL(n) always eventually reach the number of 1, for all n belongs to N+ (all…

This paper proposes a formula expression for the well-known Collatz conjecture (or 3x+1 problem), which can pinpoint all the growth points in the orbits of the Collatz map for any natural numbers. The Collatz map $Col: \mathcal{N}+1…

An attempt to come closer to a resolution of the Collatz conjecture is presented. The central idea is the formation of a tree consisting of positive odd numbers with number 1 as root. Functions for generating the tree from the root are…

Let $q$ be a positive integer and $\mathcal{S}=\left\{x_0,x_1,\ldots,x_{T-1}\right\}\subseteq\mathbb{Z}_q=\{0,1,\ldots,q-1\}$ with $$0\leq x_0<x_1<\ldots< x_{T-1}\leq q-1.$$ We derive from $\mathcal{S}$ three (finite) sequences. 1. For an…

Let $D: \mathbb{Z}_m^n \to \mathbb{Z}_m^n$ be defined so \[D(x_1, x_2, ..., x_n)=(x_1+x_2 \; \text{mod} \; m, x_2+x_3 \; \text{mod} \; m, ..., x_n+x_1 \; \text{mod} \; m).\] $D$ is known as the Ducci function and for $\mathbf{u} \in…

In this article, we reduce the unsolved problem of convergence of Collatz sequences to convergence of Collatz sequences of odd numbers that are divisible by 3. We give an elementary proof of the fact that a Collatz sequence does not…

The Collatz conjecture, which posits that any positive integer will eventually reach 1 through a specific iterative process, is a classic unsolved problem in mathematics. This research focuses on designing an efficient algorithm to compute…