Related papers: Loop Termination and Generalized Collatz Sequences
A linear constraint loop is specified by a system of linear inequalities that define the relation between the values of the program variables before and after a single execution of the loop body. In this paper we consider the problem of…
Tiwari proved that termination of linear programs (loops with linear loop conditions and updates) over the reals is decidable through Jordan forms and eigenvectors computation. Braverman proved that it is also decidable over the integers.…
This paper shows how techniques for linear dynamical systems can be used to reason about the behavior of general loops. We present two main results. First, we show that every loop that can be expressed as a transition formula in linear…
The Collatz conjecture, which posits that any positive integer will eventually reach 1 through a specific iterative process, is a classic unsolved problem in mathematics. This research focuses on designing an efficient algorithm to compute…
We present necessary and sufficient conditions for the termination of linear homogeneous programs. We also develop a complete method to check termination for this class of programs. Our complete characterization of termination for such…
We consider the problem of deciding termination of single-path while loops with integer variables, affine updates, and affine guard conditions. The question is whether such a loop terminates on all integer initial values. This problem is…
A fundamental problem in program verification concerns the termination of simple linear loops of the form x := u ; while Bx >= b do {x := Ax + a} where x is a vector of variables, u, a, and c are integer vectors, and A and B are integer…
The Collatz sequence for a given natural number $N$ is generated by repeatedly applying the map $N$ $\rightarrow$ $3N+1$ if $N$ is odd and $N$ $\rightarrow$ $N/2$ if $N$ is even. One elusive open problem in Mathematics is whether all such…
Nearly linear recurrences are a generalisation of linear recurrences and are instances of linear time-invariant systems in control theory and linear constraint loops in program analysis. In this paper we formulate the Positivity Problem for…
We show that universal positive almost sure termination (UPAST) is decidable for a class of simple randomized programs, i.e., it is decidable whether the expected runtime of such a program is finite for all inputs. Our class contains all…
In the paper, some special linear combinations of the terms of rational cycles of generalized Collatz sequences are studied. It is proved that if the coefficients of the linear combinations satisfy some conditions then these linear…
The document tries to put focus on sequences with certain properties and periods leading to the first value smaller than the starting value in the Collatz problem. With the idea that, if all starting numbers lead ultimately to a smaller…
Intuitively, if we can prove that a program terminates, we expect some conclusion regarding its complexity. But the passage from termination proofs to complexity bounds is not always clear. In this work we consider Monotonicity Constraint…
An attempt to come closer to a resolution of the Collatz conjecture is presented. The central idea is the formation of a tree consisting of positive odd numbers with number 1 as root. Functions for generating the tree from the root are…
The Collatz conjecture is one of the easiest mathematical problems to state and yet it remains unsolved. For each $n\ge 2$ the Collatz iteration is mapped to a binary sequence and a corresponding unique integer which can recreate the…
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 consider linear single-path loops of the form \[ \textbf{while} \quad \varphi \quad \textbf{do} \quad \vec{x} \gets A \vec{x} + \vec{b} \quad \textbf{end} \] where $\vec{x}$ is a vector of variables, the loop guard $\varphi$ is a…
A simple linear loop is a simple while loop with linear assignments and linear loop guards. If a simple linear loop has only two program variables, we give a complete algorithm for computing the set of all the inputs on which the loop does…
We consider the problem of proving termination for triangular weakly non-linear loops (twn-loops) over some ring $\mathcal{S}$ like $\mathbb{Z}$, $\mathbb{Q}$, or $\mathbb{R}$. The guard of such a loop is an arbitrary quantifier-free…
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…