Related papers: The Multiplicative Persistence Conjecture Is True …
Let $X$ be a set of $n$ points in the plane, not all on a line. According to the Gallai-Sylvester theorem, $X$ always spans an \emph{ordinary line}, i.e., one that passes through precisely 2 elements of $X$. Given an integer $c\ge 2,$ a…
In this paper, we investigate two variations on the so-called persistence problem of Sloane: the shifted version, which was introduced by Wagstaff; and the nonzero version, proposed by Erd\H{o}s. We explore connections between these…
The Index Conjecture in zero-sum theory states that when $n$ is coprime to $6$ and $k$ equals $4$, every minimal zero-sum sequence of length $k$ modulo $n$ has index $1$. While other values of $(k,n)$ have been studied thoroughly in the…
Define $\|n\|$ to be the complexity of $n$, the smallest number of ones needed to write $n$ using an arbitrary combination of addition and multiplication. John Selfridge showed that $\|n\|\ge 3\log_3 n$ for all $n$, leading this author and…
In this paper we introduce and discuss the sequence of \emph{real numbers} defined as $u_0 \in \mathbb R$ and $u_{n+1} = \Delta(u_n)$ where \begin{equation*} \Delta(x) = \begin{cases} \frac{x}{2} &\text{if }…
Let $S_n^{(2)}$ denote the iterated partial sums. That is, $S_n^{(2)}=S_1+S_2+ ... +S_n$, where $S_i=X_1+X_2+ ... s+X_i$. Assuming $X_1, X_2,....,X_n$ are integrable, zero-mean, i.i.d. random variables, we show that the persistence…
We investigate \Delta_n, the distance between randomly selected pairs of nodes among n keys in a random trie, which is a kind of digital tree. Analytical techniques, such as the Mellin transform and an excursion between poissonization and…
The Total Colouring Conjecture suggests that $\Delta+3$ colours ought to suffice in order to provide a proper total colouring of every graph $G$ with maximum degree $\Delta$. Thus far this has been confirmed up to an additive constant…
A folklore conjecture asserts the existence of a constant $c_n > 0$ such that $\#\mathcal{F}_n(X) \sim c_n X$ as $X\to \infty$, where $\mathcal{F}_n(X)$ is the set of degree $n$ extensions $K/\mathbb{Q}$ with discriminant bounded by $X$.…
We prove a conjecture that classifies exceptional numbers. This conjecture arises in two different ways, from cryptography and from coding theory. An odd integer $t\geq 3$ is said to be exceptional if $f(x)=x^t$ is APN (Almost Perfect…
Dris conjectured in his masters thesis that the inequality $q^k < n$ always holds, if $N = {q^k}{n^2}$ is an odd perfect number with special prime $q$. In this note, we initially show that either of the two conditions $n < q^k$ or…
Although 10^230 terms of Recaman's sequence have been computed, it remains a mystery. Here three distant cousins of that sequence are described, one of which is also mysterious. (i) {A(n), n >= 3} is defined as follows. Start with n, and…
A celebrated unit distance conjecture due to Erd\H os says that that the unit distances cannot arise more than $C_{\epsilon}n^{1+\epsilon}$ times (for any $\epsilon>0$) among $n$ points in the Euclidean plane (see e.g. \cite{SST84} and the…
Define $\|n\|$ to be the complexity of $n$, the smallest number of ones needed to write $n$ using an arbitrary combination of addition and multiplication. John Selfridge showed that $\|n\|\ge 3\log_3 n$ for all $n$. Based on this, this…
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 graph is said to be diameter-$k$-critical if its diameter is $k$ and removal of any of its edges increases its diameter. A beautiful conjecture by Murty and Simon, says that every diameter-2-critical graph of order $n$ has at most…
A pair of probability distributions over $\{0,1\}^n$ is said to be $(k,\delta)$-wise indistinguishable if all of the size $k$ marginals are within statistical distance at most $\delta$. Previous works introduced this concept and study when…
Given a real number $0.a_1a_2 a_3\dots$ that is normal to base $b$, we examine increasing sequences $n_i$ so that the number $0.a_{n_1}a_{n_2}a_{n_3}\dots$ are normal to base $b$. Classically it is known that if the $n_i$ form an arithmetic…
Due to the distribution of primes among integers, we establish an upper bound for the probability $\mathbb{P}_n$ that the Goldbach conjecture fails. Assuming the conjecture holds true for all even number less than $2N$, we prove this…
The famous (3n + 1) or Collatz conjecture has admitted some progress over the last several decades towards the conclusion that the conjecture is true (i.e. that all Collatz sequences will eventually reach a value of one), but has stubbornly…