Related papers: $3n + 3^k$ Problem

We study variants of the well-known Collatz graph, by considering the action of the 3n+1 function on congruence classes. For moduli equal to powers of 2, these graphs are shown to be isomorphic to binary De Bruijn graphs. Unlike the Collatz…

We produce congruences modulo a prime $p>3$ for sums $\sum_k\binom{3k}{k}x^k$ over ranges $0\le k<q$ and $0\le k<q/3$, where $q$ is a power of $p$. Here $x$ equals either $c^2/(1-c)^3$, or $4s^2/\bigl(27(s^2-1)\bigr)$, where $c$ and $s$ are…

Given integers $k,l\geq 2$, where either $l$ is odd or $k$ is even, let $n(k,l)$ denote the largest integer $n$ such that each element of $A_n$ is a product of $k$ many $l$-cycles. In 2008, M. Herzog, G. Kaplan and A. Lev conjectured that…

Let (F_n^{(k)})_{n\geq -(k-2)} be the k-generalized Fibonacci sequence, defined as the linear recurrence sequence whose first k terms are \(0, 0, \ldots, 0, 1\), and whose subsequent terms are determined by the sum of the preceding k terms.…

Pilz's conjecture states that for any finite set $A=\{a_1,a_2,\dots,a_k\}$ of positive integers and positive integer $n$ in the union of the sets $\{a_1,2a_1,\dots,na_1\},\dots, \{a_k,2a_k,\dots,na_k\}$ (considered as a multiset) at least…

The clustering of integers with equal total stopping times has long been observed in the 3x + 1 Problem, and a number of elementary results about it have been used repeatedly in the literature. In this paper we introduce a simple…

The $3k-4$ Theorem is a classical result which asserts that if $A,\,B\subseteq \mathbb Z$ are finite, nonempty subsets with \begin{equation}\label{hyp}|A+B|=|A|+|B|+r\leq |A|+|B|+\min\{|A|,\,|B|\}-3-\delta,\end{equation} where $\delta=1$ if…

We will prove that there are trajectories generated by the function at the origin of the 5x+1 problem which are divergent. The iterative application of this function on the set of positive integers allows us to determine that more than 17%…

Considering all possible paths that a natural number can take following the rules of the algorithm proposed in the Collatz conjecture we construct a graph that can be interpreted as an infinite network that contemplates all possible paths…

We investigate the structure of Collatz path sequences $\{F^k(n)\}_{k=0}^{\infty}$ for positive integers $n$, where $F$ denotes the standard Collatz map. By classifying natural numbers into residue classes modulo~4, we establish that the…

The Collatz conjecture is explored using polynomials based on a binary numeral system. It is shown that the degree of the polynomials, on average, decreases after a finite number of steps of the Collatz operation, which provides a weak…

The complexity $\Vert n\Vert$ of a natural number is the least number of $1$ needed to represent $n$ using the 5 symbols $(, ), *, +, 1$. A natural number $n$ is called stable is $\Vert 3^kn\Vert =\Vert n\Vert +3k$. For each natural number…

This paper presents an algorithmic method that, given a positive integer $j$, generates the $j$-th convergence stair containing all natural numbers from where the Collatz conjecture holds by exactly $j$ applications of the Collatz function.…

For fixed positive integers $n$, we study the solution of the equation $n = k + p_k$, where $p_k$ denotes the $k$th prime number, by means of the iterative method \[ k_{j+1} = \pi(n-k_j), \qquad k_0 = \pi(n), \] which converges to the…

The ternary Goldbach conjecture, or three-primes problem, states that every odd number $n$ greater than $5$ can be written as the sum of three primes. The conjecture, posed in 1742, remained unsolved until now, in spite of great progress in…

Let $ k \geq 2 $ be an integer. The $ k- $generalized Fibonacci sequence is a sequence defined by the recurrence relation $ F_{n}^{(k)}=F_{n-1}^{(k)} + \cdots + F_{n-k}^{(k)}$ for all $ n \geq 2$ with the initial values $ F_{i}^{(k)}=0 $…

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 introduce a full binary directed tree structure to represent the set of natural numbers, further categorizing them into three distinct subsets: pure odd numbers, pure even numbers, and mixed numbers. We adopt a binary string…

Recurrences of the form \begin{equation*} T(n,k) = (\alpha n+\beta k +\gamma) \ T(n-1,k) + (\alpha'n+\beta'k+\gamma')\ T(n-1,k-1)+\delta_{n,0}\delta_{k,0}. \end{equation*} show up as the recurrence for many well-studied combinatorial…

We use Zagier's one-sentence proof approach to show that a prime number $p$ admits a form $p=a^2+ab+b^2$ for some integers $a$ and $b$ if and only if $p=3$ or $p\equiv 1 \pmod{3}$.