Quantifying the degree of average contraction of Collatz orbits

DOI10.1007/S40574-017-0145-XMaRDI QIDQ1630521zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors T. Carletti, Duccio Fanelli

Publication date 10 December 2018

Published in Bollettino dell'Unione Matematica Italiana (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.07820

zbMATH Keywords

Markov processnumber theoryergodic dynamical systemsCollatz conjecture

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Applications of Markov chains and discrete-time Markov processes on general state spaces (social mobility, learning theory, industrial processes, etc.) (60J20) Special sequences and polynomials (11B83)

Abstract: We here elaborate on a quantitative argument to support the validity of the Collatz conjecture, also known as the (3x + 1) or Syracuse conjecture. The analysis is structured as follows. First, three distinct fixed points are found for the third iterate of the Collatz map, which hence organise in a period 3 orbit of the original map. These are 1, 2 and 4, the elements which define the unique attracting cycle, as hypothesised by Collatz. To carry out the calculation we write the positive integers in modulo 8 (mod8 ), obtain a closed analytical form for the associated map and determine the transitions that yield contracting or expanding iterates in the original, infinite-dimensional, space of positive integers. Then, we consider a Markov chain which runs on the reduced space of mod8 congruence classes of integers. The transition probabilities of the Markov chain are computed from the deterministic map, by employing a measure that is invariant for the map itself. Working in this setting, we demonstrate that the stationary distribution sampled by the stochastic system induces a contracting behaviour for the orbits of the deterministic map on the original space of the positive integers. Sampling the equilibrium distribution on the congruence classes mod8^m for any m, which amounts to arbitrarily reducing the degree of imposed coarse graining, returns an identical conclusion.

Recommendations

• Almost all orbits of the Collatz map attain almost bounded values
• Generalized \(3x+1\) mappings: Markov chains and ergodic theory
• A perspective on Collatz \(3x+1\) conjecture. II.
• Collatz on the dyadic rationals in \([0.5, 1)\) with fractals: how bit strings change their length under \(3x+1\)
• The Collatz problem

Cites work

• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 3560404 (Why is no real title available?)
• A Markov approach to the generalized Syracuse algorithm
• Maximum excursion and stopping time record-holders for the problem: Computational results
• On some Markov matrices arising from the generalized Collatz mapping
• The ultimate challenge. The \(3x+1\) problem

Cited in

(2)

• Almost all orbits of the Collatz map attain almost bounded values
• The Collatz conjecture and the quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator

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