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Tibor Rado defined the Busy Beaver Competition in 1962. He used Turing machines to give explicit definitions for some functions that are not computable and grow faster than any computable function. He put forward the problem of computing…

Logic · Mathematics 2022-12-15 Pascal Michel

The busy beaver problem is a well-known example of a non-computable function. In order to determine a particular value of this function, it is necessary to generate and classify a large number of Turing machines. Previous work on this…

Formal Languages and Automata Theory · Computer Science 2016-10-12 James Harland

This note introduces a generalization to the setting of infinite-time computation of the busy beaver problem from classical computability theory, and proves some results concerning the growth rate of an associated function. In our view,…

Logic · Mathematics 2014-01-13 James T. Long , Lee J. Stanley

We give new Turing machines that simulate the iteration of the Collatz 3x+1 function. First, a never halting Turing machine with 3 states and 4 symbols, improving the known 3x5 and 4x4 Turing machines. Second, Turing machines that halt on…

Logic · Mathematics 2014-09-26 Pascal Michel

In his seminal paper from 1936, Alan Turing introduced the concept of non-computable real numbers and presented examples based on the algorithmically unsolvable Halting problem. We describe a different, analytically natural mechanism for…

Dynamical Systems · Mathematics 2026-01-14 Ivan O. Shevchenko , Michael Yampolsky

The Collatz problem is one of many names (the Collatz Problem, the Syracuse Problem, the Hailstone Problem, the 3x+1 problem). Most commonly, however, the problem goes by either the 3x+1 problem or the Collatz problem. In addition to having…

Dynamical Systems · Mathematics 2017-05-04 Denver Stahl

The $3x+1$ problem, also called the Collatz conjecture, is a very interesting unsolved mathematical problem related to computer science. This paper generalized this problem by relaxing the constraints, i.e., generalizing this deterministic…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2013-11-25 Bojin Zheng , Yangqian Su , Hongrun Wu , Li Kuang

The theoretical existence of Busy Beaver numbers provides a new notion for decidability and corresponding heuristic for conjectures. The minimum number of states in which a conjecture can be modeled gives a classification of what logic…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2026-05-21 Gurpreet Tandi , Josue Gonzalez-Hendrix , Jonathan Brown

The 3x+1 problem is one of the most classical problems in computer science, related to many fields. As it is thought by scientists a highly hard problem, resolving it successfully not only can improve the research in many relating fields,…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2012-05-07 Lizhi Du

Since the definition of the Busy Beaver function by Rado in 1962, an interesting open question has been the smallest value of n for which BB(n) is independent of ZFC set theory. Is this n approximately 10, or closer to 1,000,000, or is it…

Formal Languages and Automata Theory · Computer Science 2016-05-17 Adam Yedidia , Scott Aaronson

The busy beaver is a well-known specific example of a non-computable function. Whilst many aspect of this problem have been investigated, it is not always easy to find thorough and convincing evidence for the claims made about the…

Formal Languages and Automata Theory · Computer Science 2016-02-11 James Harland

The busy beaver value BB(n) is the maximum number of steps made by any n-state, 2-symbol deterministic halting Turing machine starting on blank tape. The busy beaver function $n \mapsto \text{BB}(n)$ is uncomputable and, from below, only 4…

Logic in Computer Science · Computer Science 2024-06-12 Tristan Stérin , Damien Woods

We investigate the Busy Beaver Game introduced by Rado (1962) generalized to non-binary alphabets. Harland (2016) conjectured that activity (number of steps) and productivity (number of non-blank symbols) of candidate machines grow as the…

Formal Languages and Automata Theory · Computer Science 2017-05-01 Holger Petersen

Set out here are some fundamental theories that may be regarded as newly discovered metamathematics of the odd integers in relation to the Collatz conjecture (also called the 3x+1 problem). Originally motivated by the requirement to invent…

General Mathematics · Mathematics 2015-03-19 Michael A. Idowu

We give an effective procedure that produces a natural number in its output from any natural number in its input, that is, it computes a total function. The elementary operations of the procedure are Turing-computable. The procedure has a…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2013-02-06 Kurt Ammon

The Collatz conjecture can be stated in terms of the reduced Collatz function R(x) = (3x+1)/2^m (where 2^m is the larger power of 2 that divides 3x+1). The conjecture is: Starting from any odd positive integer and repeating R(x) we…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2017-03-14 Livio Colussi

In this paper, we discuss the well known 3x+1 conjecture in form of the accelerated Collatz function T defined on the positive odd integers. We present a sequence of quotient spaces and an invertible map that are intrinsically related to…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2016-07-26 Peter Hellekalek

The 3x+ 1 problem concerns iteration of the map on the integers given by T(n) = (3n+1)/2 if n is odd; T(n) = n/2 if n is even. The 3x+1 Conjecture asserts that for every positive integer n > 1 the forward orbit of n under iteration by T…

Number Theory · Mathematics 2011-01-12 Jeffrey C. Lagarias

In this paper, we extend Busy Beaver function to a class of higher order Busy Beaver functions based on Turing oracle machine. We prove some results about the relation between decidability of number theoretical formula and higher order Busy…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2025-07-30 Zining Cao

It is well known that the Collatz Conjecture can be reinterpreted as the Collatz Graph with root vertex 1, asking whether all positive integers are within the tree generated. It is further known that any cycle in the Collatz Graph can be…

General Mathematics · Mathematics 2023-09-01 Q Le , Edward Smith
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