Related papers: A sumset version of a conjecture of Pilz

Let G be an additive abelian group whose finite subgroups are all cyclic. Let A_1,...,A_n (n>1) be finite subsets of G with cardinality k>0, and let b_1,...,b_n be pairwise distinct elements of G with odd order. We show that for every…

We study the number of values taken by the sums $\sum_{i=u}^{v-1} a_i$, where $a_1,a_2,\dots,a_n$ is a permutation of $1,2,\dots,n$ and $1 \leq u < v \leq n+1$. In particular, we show that for a random choice of a permutation, with high…

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…

Consider the recursive relation generating a new positive integer $n_{\ell +1}$ from the positive integer $n_{\ell }$ according to the following simple rules: if the integer $n_{\ell }$ is odd, $n_{\ell +1}=3n_{\ell }+1$; if the integer…

This work is about a partition problem which is an instance of the distance magic graph labeling problem. Given positive integers $n,k$ and $p_1\le p_2\le \cdots\le p_k$ such that $p_1+\cdots+p_k=n$ and $k$ divides $\sum_{i=1}^ni$, we study…

The Collatz Conjecture (also known as the 3x+1 Problem) proposes that the following algorithm will, after a certain number of iterations, always yield the number 1: given a natural number, multiply by three and add one if the number is odd,…

The \textit{Collatz's conjecture} is an unsolved problem in mathematics. It is named after Lothar Collatz in 1973. The conjecture also known as Syrucuse conjecture or problem. Take any positive integer $ n $. If $ n $ is even then divide it…

In this paper we consider the following conjecture, proposed by Brian Alspach, concerning partial sums in finite cyclic groups: given a subset $A$ of $\mathbb{Z}_n\setminus \{0\}$ of size $k$ such that $\sum_{z\in A} z\not= 0$, it is…

Let $\{a_{1}, a_{2},\ldots, a_{n},\ldots\}$ be a sequence of complex numbers which has at most polynomial growth and satisfies an extra assumption. In this paper, inspired by a recent work of Sasane, we give an explanation of the sum…

Let $\{a_1, . . . , a_n\}$ be a set of positive integers with $a_1 < \dots < a_n$ such that all $2^n$ subset sums are distinct. A famous conjecture by Erd\H{o}s states that $a_n>c\cdot 2^n$ for some constant $c$, while the best result known…

The Schinzel Hypothesis is a celebrated conjecture in number theory linking polynomial values and prime numbers. In the same vein we investigate the common divisors of values $P_1(n),\ldots, P_s(n)$ of several polynomials. We deduce this…

It is well known that the following Collatz Conjecture is one of the unsolved problems in mathematics. Collatz Conjecture: For any positive integer $n>1$, the following recursive algorithm will convergent to 1 by a finite number of steps.…

Let $g$ be a map from the set of positive integers into itself defined as follows: Let $x$ be a positive integer. If $x$ is odd, then $g(x)=3x+1$, and if $x$ is even, then $g(x)=x/2$. The $3x+1$ conjecture, also called the Collatz…

Let $A$ be a finite set of $k$ integers. For $h \leq k$, the restricted $h$-fold sumset $h^{\wedge} A$ is the set of all sums of $h$ distinct elements of $A$. In additive combinatorics, much of the focus has traditionally been on finite…

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…

We introduce an infinite set of integer mappings that generalize the well-known Collatz-Ulam mapping and we conjecture that an infinite subset of these mappings feature the remarkable property of the Collatz conjecture, namely that they…

We study divisibility properties of certain sums and alternating sums involving binomial coefficients and powers of integers. For example, we prove that for all positive integers $n_1,..., n_m$, $n_{m+1}=n_1$, and any nonnegative integer…

We study additive properties of consecutive prime numbers and the primality of the sums they generate. For a given prime number $p_n$, we consider the sums \[ S_k(p_n) = p_n + p_{n+1} + \cdots + p_{n+k-1}, \] where $k \ge 3$ is an odd…

Let $A$ be a finite set of integers. We show that if $k$ is a prime power or a product of two distinct primes then $$|A+k\cdot A|\geq(k+1)|A|-\lceil k(k+2)/4\rceil$$ provided $|A|\geq (k-1)^{2}k!$, where $A+k\cdot A=\{a+kb:\ a,b\in A\}$. We…

It is conjectured that for any fixed relatively prime positive integers $a,b$ and $c$ all greater than 1 there is at most one solution to the equation $a^x+b^y=c^z$ in positive integers $x,y$ and $z$, except for specific cases. We develop…