Related papers: Collatz polynomials: an introduction with bounds o…
A multipermutation with $k$ copies each of $1\ldots n$ is Carlitz if neighbours are different. We enumerate these objects for $k=2,3,4$ and derive recurrences. In particular, we prove and improve a conjectured recurrence for $k=3$, stated…
A number of the form $x(x+1)/2$ where $x$ is an integer is called a triangular number. Suppose, $N(a_1,\cdots,a_k;n)$ and $T(a_1,\cdots,a_k;n)$ denote the number of ways $n$ can be expressed as $\sum_{i=1}^k a_ix_i^2$ and $\sum_{i=1}^k…
We propose the existence of an infinite class of exact analogues of the 3x+1 conjecture for rational numbers with fixed denominators. For some other denominators, there are several attracting cycles, which exhibit scaling and covariance…
Univariate polynomial root-finding is a classical subject, still important for modern computing. Frequently one seeks just the real roots of a polynomial with real coefficients. They can be approximated at a low computational cost if the…
Motivated by a recent work of Tr\"umper we consider the general Collatz word (up-down pattern) and the sequences following this pattern. The recurrences for the first and last sequence entries are given, obtained from repeated application…
For all natural numbers a,b and d > 0, we consider the function f_{a,b,d} which associates n/d to any integer n when it is a multiple of d, and an + b otherwise; in particular f_{3,1,2} is the Collatz function. Coding in base a > 1 with b <…
Many combinatorial sequences (for example, the Catalan and Motzkin numbers) may be expressed as the constant term of $P(x)^k Q(x)$, for some Laurent polynomials $P(x)$ and $Q(x)$ in the variable $x$ with integer coefficients. Denoting such…
Define the \emph{Collatz map} $\mathrm{Col} : \mathbb{N}+1 \to \mathbb{N}+1$ on the positive integers $\mathbb{N}+1 = \{1,2,3,\dots\}$ by setting $\mathrm{Col}(N)$ equal to $3N+1$ when $N$ is odd and $N/2$ when $N$ is even, and let…
It is shown that every Collatz sequence $C(s)$ consists only of same structured finite subsequences $C^h(s)$ for $s\equiv9\ (mod\ 12)$ or $C^t(s)$ for $s\equiv3,7\ (mod\ 12)$. For starting numbers of specific residue classes ($mod\…
Many of the 2-adic properties of the 3x+1 map generalize to the analogous mx+r map, where m and r are odd integers. We introduce the corresponding autoconjugacy map, prove some simple properties of it and make some further conjectures in…
We analyze properties of the 2-adic valuations of an integer sequence that originates from an explicit evaluation of a quartic integral. We also give a combinatorial interpretation of the valuations of this sequence. Connections with the…
We give an elementary proof of the Kontsevich conjecture that asserts that the iterations of the noncommutative rational map K_r:(x,y)-->(xyx^{-1},(1+y^r)x^{-1}) are given by noncommutative Laurent polynomials.
The 3x+1 semigroup is the multiplicative semigroup generated by the rational numbers of form (2k+1)/(3k+2) for non-negative k, together with 2. This semigroup encodes backward iteration under the 3x+1 map, and the 3x+1 conjecture implies…
Let $T \colon \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ denote the $3x+1$ function, where $T(n)=n/2$ if $n$ is even, $T(n)=(3n+1)/2$ if $n$ is odd. As an accelerated version of $T$, we define a jump at $n \ge 1$ by jp$(n) = T^{(\ell)}(n)$, where $\ell$ is…
We generalize Carlitz' result on the number of self reciprocal monic irreducible polynomials over finite fields by showing that similar explicit formula hold for the number of irreducible polynomials obtained by a fixed quadratic…
An important unsolved problem in Diophantine number theory is to establish a general method to effectively find all solutions to any given $S$-unit equation with at least four terms. Although there are many works contributing to this…
Given integers $\ell > m >0$, we define monic polynomials $X_n$, $Y_n$, and $Z_n$ with the property that $\mu$ is a zero of $X_n$ if and only if the triple $(\mu,\mu+m,\mu+\ell)$ satisfies $x^n + y^n = z^n$. It is shown that the…
In 1971, Ruzsa conjectured that if $f:\ \mathbb{N}\rightarrow\mathbb{Z}$ with $f(n+k)\equiv f(n)$ mod $k$ for every $n,k\in\mathbb{N}$ and $f(n)=O(\theta^n)$ with $\theta<e$ then $f$ is a polynomial. In this paper, we investigate the…
The recurrence for the $k$-Fibonacci polynomials is usually iterated upwards to positive values of $n$ only. When the recurrence is iterated downwards to $n<0$, there are indices where the polynomials vanish identically. This fact does not…
A sharp bound is obtained for the number of ways to express the monomial $X^n$ as a product of linear factors over $\mathbb{Z}/p^{\alpha}\mathbb{Z}$. The proof relies on an induction-on-scale procedure which is used to estimate the number…