The Collatz conjecture in a group theoretic context (Q2406669)

By \(r(m)\) we denote the residue class \(r+m{\mathbb Z}\), where we assume that \(0\leqslant r < m\). The Collatz conjecture asserts that iterated application of the mapping \[ C: {\mathbb Z}\rightarrow {\mathbb Z}, \;\;\;\;n\mapsto \begin{cases} \frac{n}{2} & \text{if } n\in 0(2),\\ 3n+1 & \text{if } n\in 1(2), \end{cases} \] to any positive integer yields \(1\) after a finite number of steps. Given disjoint residue classes \(r_1(m_1)\) and \(r_2(m_2)\) of \({\mathbb Z}\), let the class transposition \(\tau_{r_1(m_1), r_2(m_2)}\) be the permutation which interchanges \(r_1+km_1\) and \(r_2+km_2\) for each integer \(k\) and which fixes all other points. We denote by \(\mathrm{CT}({\mathbb Z})\) the subgroup of all class transpositions. We also set \[ G_C:=\langle \tau_{1(2), 4(6)}, \tau_{1(3), 2(6)}, \tau_{2(3), 4(6)}\rangle \text{ and } G_T:=\langle \tau_{0(2), 1(2)}, \tau_{1(2), 2(4)}, \tau_{1(4), 2(6)}\rangle. \] As the first result, the author proves that: Proposition 1.2. The following hold: {\parindent=0.7cm \begin{itemize}\item[(a)] The group \(G_C\) acts transitively on \({\mathbb N}\setminus 0(6)\) if and only if the Collatz conjecture holds. \item[(b)] The group \(G_T\) acts transitively on \({\mathbb N}_0\) if and only if the Collatz conjecture holds. \end{itemize}} Given a set \({\mathbb P}\) of prime numbers, let \(\mathrm{CT}_{\mathbb P}(\mathbb Z)\leqslant \mathrm{CT}({\mathbb Z})\) denote the subgroup which is generated by all class transpositions \(\tau_{r_1(m_1), r_2(m_2)}\) for which all prime factors of \(m_1\) and \(m_2\) lie in \({\mathbb P}\). Clearly, both \(G_C\) and \(G_T\) are subgroups of \(\mathrm{CT}_{\{2,3\}}(\mathbb Z)\). By Theorem 2.3 in [the author, Math. Z. 264, No. 4, 927--938 (2010; Zbl 1210.20026)], the group \(\mathrm{CT}(\mathbb Z)\) is not finitely generated. By the arguments used in the proof of that theorem, it follows also that \(\mathrm{CT}_{\mathbb P}(\mathbb Z)\) is not finitely generated if \(\mathbb P\) is infinite. As the second result, the author proves that: Proposition 3.2. Let \(\mathbb P\) be a finite set of primes. Then the group \(\mathrm{CT}_{\mathbb P}(\mathbb Z)\) is finitely generated.