Almost all orbits of the Collatz map attain almost bounded values

Special sequences and polynomials (11B83) Recurrences (11B37) Arithmetic and non-Archimedean dynamical systems (37P99) Renewal theory (60K05) Special sequences (11K31) Relations between ergodic theory and number theory (37A44)

Abstract: Define the emph{Collatz map}

m a t h r m C o l : m a t h b b N + 1 o m a t h b b N + 1

on the positive integers

m a t h b b N + 1 = 1, 2, 3, d o t s

by setting

m a t h r m C o l (N)

equal to

3 N + 1

when

N

is odd and

N / 2

when

N

is even, and let

m a t h r m {C o l}_{m i n} (N) := i n f_{n i n m a t h b b N} m a t h r m {C o l}^{n} (N)

denote the minimal element of the Collatz orbit

N, m a t h r m C o l (N), m a t h r m {C o l}^{2} (N), d o t s

. The infamous emph{Collatz conjecture} asserts that

m a t h r m {C o l}_{m i n} (N) = 1

for all

N i n m a t h b b N + 1

. Previously, it was shown by Korec that for any

h e t a > f r a c l o g 3 l o g 4 a p p r o x 0.7924

, one has

m a t h r m {C o l}_{m i n} (N) l e q N^{h} e t a

for almost all

N i n m a t h b b N + 1

(in the sense of natural density). In this paper we show that for emph{any} function

f : m a t h b b N + 1 o m a t h b b R

with

l i m_{N o i n f t y} f (N) = + i n f t y

, one has

m a t h r m {C o l}_{m i n} (N) l e q f (N)

for almost all

N i n m a t h b b N + 1

(in the sense of logarithmic density). Our proof proceeds by establishing an approximate transport property for a certain first passage random variable associated with the Collatz iteration (or more precisely, the closely related Syracuse iteration), which in turn follows from estimation of the characteristic function of a certain skew random walk on a

3

-adic cyclic group at high frequencies. This estimation is achieved by studying how a certain two-dimensional renewal process interacts with a union of triangles associated to a given frequency.

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