Experimental Results on the 3n + 1 Conjecture

J. Wheat ([email protected])
02-14-2024

1 The Collatz Function as a Limit at Infinity

One of the reasons, which is not often discussed, for the convergence of the
Collatz function[1] is that it relies upon indefinite division by fluctuating powers
of two. In other words, if we are only allowed to divide an even number n by 2k
for some maximal k (regardless of whether said number is divisible by a greater
power of two), the resulting sequence will diverge to infinity for most values of n.
More formally, we can represent the entire family of restricted Collatz functions
as 
3n + 1, n ≡ 1 (mod 2)

fk (n) = n − 2, n ≡ 0 (mod 2k+1 )

n/2, otherwise


for k ≥ 1. In the case where n = 3 and k = 1, the resulting divergent sequence

is
{f1i (3)}∞
i=0 = {3, 10, 5, 16, 14, 7, 22, 11, 34, 17, 52, 50, 25, . . . } .

Given any odd argument greater than one, the iterations of this function always
diverge. However, only a unique subset of the odd numbers generates the entire
set of odds under repeated iteration. This subset corresponds with A045883 in
OEIS[2] , which has the formula

(3n + 1)2n − (−1)n

9
For k > 1 there are increasingly more odd valued arguments which produce
convergent cycles, assuming that none of the even numbers in the given sequence
is divisible by 2k+1 (or the growth of the sequence falls below a certain bound).
In this way, as k approaches infinity the restricted function becomes equivalent
to the original Collatz function.
It would also prove interesting to see if these divergent sequences have some
relation to infinite continued fractions, or nested radicals.

1
2 The Extended Problem
2.1 A generalized Collatz function
To settle for an exposition which only touches upon these restricted functions
would be unsatisfactory at best. It was shown in the previous section how the
Collatz function can be modified to produce divergent sequences, but there is a
much more general function at work here. For any co-prime pair of odd numbers
(a, b) we define the generalized function F such that
(
a · n ± b, n ≡ 1 (mod 2)
F (z, n) =
n/2, n ≡ 0 (mod 2)

where z = a ± bi (the use of complex numbers here is merely for notational

convenience and has no further significance). The total number of co-prime
pairs a, b ≤ 2m − 1 is given by the formula
m X n  
X 1
−1 + 2
n=1
gcd(2k − 1, 2n − 1)
k=1

which, when multiplied by two, accounts for all possible combinations including
change of sign. A similar generalized Collatz function has been developed by
Bouhamidi[3] who provides a thorough graph theoretic interpretation of the
problem.
Now that we have a definition of our function there is still another matter
to discuss. Depending on the choice of coefficient and our initial argument,
the generalized function will produce either divergent or convergent cycles. For
Re(z) > 3 most arguments will produce divergent cycles under repeated iter-
ation (unless a · n ± b = 2k , as an example). In contrast, for Re(z) ≤ 3 all
arguments produce convergent cycles with z = 3 + i being the only exceptional
case that has a single fundamental cycle. Let us further examine the instance
where z = 3 + 5i. There are numerous trajectories of this function which never
return to one, such as {19, 62, 31, 98, 49, 152, 76, 38}. We also have infinitely
many arguments that do return to one, however. They are always numbers of
the form
22k−1 − 5
n= .
3
This derivation can be adapted for arbitrary pairs (a, b) , but it is by no means
comprehensive.

2.2 Singular cycles and conditional convergence

Now we will address those values of z that generate divergent sequences under
repeated iteration, as well as a method for inducing them to converge. In the
previous subsection we discussed how divergent cases can either avoid or return
to unity, but here we will focus on how greater coefficients can form conditionally
convergent cycles in general.

2
 Most arguments will produce divergent sequences with larger coefficients
having a greater propensity for divergence. We will first expound upon those
limited instances that produce singular cycles, followed by a brief discussion
about the conditional convergence of the reduced generalized function.
To begin with, any aforementioned pair (a, b) such that a ± b = 2k auto-
matically forms a cycle which converges to one. When both of these constants
are positive, there are only a finite number of possible pairs (2k−1 to be exact).
When b is negative, however, there are an infinite number of combinations for
each k ≥ 1. This is the first type of singular cycle. The second type involves
cases where the coefficient a = 2k − 1 and the cycle begins with n = ±b. It
should also be noted for (a, b) = (3, p), where p is an odd prime, that n = pk
always ends in the cycle {p, 4p, 2p}. This does not hold for a > 3.
Now we will discuss our ”method” which allows the convergence of any
arbitrary argument for the generalized Collatz function. Regrettably, it requires
experimental deduction of a reduction constant that is found by trial and error,
with said constant being proportional to the initial argument.
Let us begin by introducing the modified function Fr and the latent sequence
of odd numbers {α0 , α1 , . . . } where r is the reduction constant. When this
constant is equal to zero our modified function is identical to the generalized
Collatz function. As for the sequence of odd numbers, or alpha sequence, they
satisfy the following relationship

Frs0 +...+sk (z, α0 ) = αk

where {s0 , s1 , . . . } is the iterative sequence over α0 , and s0 = 0 for all such
sequences. This then implies that

Frs0 +...+sk +1 (z, α0 ) = 2sk+1 αk+1 .

It should also be noted that the iterative sequence, as well as the alpha sequence,
is dependent on the choice of reduction constant.
Let us define the function more explicitly to see how the constant is applied:
(
s0 +...+sk Re(z) · αk + Im(z), k ≡ 0 (mod r + 1)
Fr (z, α0 ) =  k  .
αk − 2(k − (r + 1) r+1 ) + 1, k ̸≡ 0 (mod r + 1)

Here we see that the argument is reduced in a regular manner after applying the
first operation in the formula above. When the argument is even, the normal
division operation is employed

Frk (z, α0 )
Frk+1 (z, α0 ) = ∀ Frk (z, α0 ) ≡ 0 (mod 2) .
2
To give a more tangible demonstration of the function at work, let us consider
an example that is experimentally known to converge. We have as our given
parameters: z = 97 + 13i, α0 = 85, and r = 3. These generate the following

3
sequence of arithmetic operations:

97 · 85 + 13 = 8258,

8258
= 4129,
2

4129 − 1 = 4128,

4128
= 129,
25

129 − 3 = 126,

126
= 63,
2

63 − 5 = 58,

58
= 29,
2

97 · 29 + 13 = 2826,

2826
= 1413,
2

1413 − 1 = 1412,

1412
,
22

353 − 3 = 350,

350
= 175,
2

175 − 5 = 170,

170
= 85 .
2
This cycle also occurs for greater values of α0 , such as 113, with the same
reduction constant as before.

4
3 Triangular Diagrams
3.1 Hailstone triangles of rank k
For the final section of our paper, we will discuss two families of numerical
configurations the first of which we will refer to as hailstone triangles. The
rank one case is derived from the consecutive sequence of odds {1, 3, 5, . . . } by
applying the Collatz function f to each odd in our list and then retaining any
values
f (2n − 1)
≡ 1 (mod 2) .
2
This process is then repeated for the resulting list, and so on until it can be
continued no further. As an example, the first three (rank one) triangles are as
follows
1,
1 3 5
,
5
1 3 5 7 9 11 13
5 11 17 .
17
There are several integer sequences to unpack here, so for the sake of brevity we
will focus only on the most pertinent ones. Each triangle has associated with it
five unique values which are as follows: height, width, number of elements, mid-
point, and max-point. The first three values are fairly self-explanatory, whereas
the last two refer to the top and bottom element of the middle column of each
triangle, respectively. The height h(n) is simply n, and the width 2n − 1. The
mid-point mid(n) is equal to the width in this case, and the max-point max(n)
is given by 2 · 3n−1 − 1. Lastly, the number of elements N (n) coincides with the
second column in Euler’s triangle (A000295 in OEIS)[4] , i.e 2n − n − 1.
Such results seem anticlimactic at first, however, we may further generalize
this concept to rank k triangles where the difference between consecutive ele-
ments in the top row of each figure is equal to 2k . There is a subtle difference in
the construction of triangles of rank two or greater which reveals their hidden
uniqueness. After applying the Collatz function, dividing out the k-th power of
two. , and retaining any odd factors from the first row, all subsequent rows are
merely divided by two as was done for our rank one case. But before we can
begin this process, we must first discuss the arithmetic progressions which form
the top row in those figures of greater rank.
The j-th term of the k-th arithmetic progression is given by the formula

((−1)k−1 + 3)2k−1 − 1
2k j +
3
for j ≥ 1. When the Collatz function is applied to every other term in our chosen
progression, it yields an odd number multiplied by 2k . Now that we have defined

5
said progressions, the next step is to further generalize our parameters from the
rank one case.
The first term of each progression coincides with the odd ”Lichtenberg”
numbers (entries A000975[5] /A002450[6] OEIS) such that every number occurs
twice, i.e. {1, 1, 5, 5, 21, 21, . . . }. This sequence can be derived from the formula
above by setting j = 1. We can think of these as the seeds from which the
separate ranks of triangles are constructed. They also represent the initial mid-
point values that may be used to derive the other mid-points recursively. In
order to derive these mid-points we invoke the following piece-wise recurrence
relation (
2 · midk (n) + Jk , k ≡ 1 (mod 2)
midk (n + 1) = k
4 · midk (n) + 2 + 1, k ≡ 0 (mod 2)

where Jk is the k-th Jacobsthal number (A001045)[7] . The initial mid-points

correspond with the formula

((−1)k−1 + 3)2k−1 − 1
midk (1) = .
3
These do not always coincide with the initial max-point values. For odd ranked
triangles the initial mid-point is equivalent to the initial max-point, but for
triangles of even rank the initial max-point is equal to one. We can state this
more explicitly as
(
midk (1), k ≡ 1 (mod 2)
maxk (1) = .
1, k ≡ 0 (mod 2)

In general for n > 1 we have the expression

(
2 · 3n−1 − 1, k ≡ 1 (mod 2)
maxk (n) =
2 · 32n−2 − 1, k ≡ 0 (mod 2)

which is a novel result in its own right. These are listed under entry A048473
(OEIS)[8] , and will be referred to as Syracuse numbers. We will return to this
sequence in the next subsection.
The last three generalized parameters are purely quantitative in nature.
They include the height hk (n), the width wk (n), and the number of elements
Nk (n) in each figure. We can summarize them with the following expressions:
(
n, k ≡ 1 (mod 2)
hk (n) = ,
2n, k ≡ 0 (mod 2)

2n − 1, k ≡ 1 (mod 2)
wk (n) = 4n − 1 ,
 , k ≡ 0 (mod 2)
3

6
and 
2n+1 − n − 2, k ≡ 1 (mod 2)
Nk (n) = 22n+1 − 2 .
 , k ≡ 0 (mod 2)
3
Having established all of the necessary preliminaries we can now construct tri-
angles of arbitrary rank for some fixed n and k. To give an example let us
consider the first two figures of rank four
5 21 37 53 69
5 1 7 13
,
1 11
17
and rank five
21 53 85
21 ,
5
respectively. Here we clearly see that the structure of the triangles alternates
according to the parity of the rank. Furthermore, they demonstrate that the
cycles generated by the Collatz function follow a periodic spacing pattern which
affects their overall length.

3.2 Syracuse arrays

The sequence mentioned in the previous subsection which we dubbed ”Syra-
cuse numbers” will be the final focus of our paper. Their formula has already
been elaborated, as well as the fact that they are the maximal elements of the
hailstone triangles. What is not immediately evident, however, is how they can
be used to construct more conventional triangular arrays that have a unique
connection with the Collatz function.
When we take the first n terms of the Syracuse numbers and average each
pair of consecutive elements, a new row of n − 1 elements is formed underneath
like so
1 5 17 53
3 11 35
7 23
15
yielding an enumerable sequence of arrays (such as n = 4 in the example above).
This can be described more explicitly using the formula
Ti,j + Ti,j+1
Ti+1,j =
2
where Ti,j is the j-th triangular element in the i-th row, and T1,j = 2 · 3j−1 − 1.
Another interesting property of these numbers is that when the Collatz func-
tion is applied to any element below the first row, it follows the right diagonal
associated with said element:
f 2 (Ti,j ) = Ti−1,j+1

7
or
3 · Ti,j + 1
= Ti−1,j+1 .
2
Our concept can be further extended to higher order arrays which form a
triangular prism in three dimensions. Each horizontal layer in this configuration
is defined recursively by introducing a third parameter to our triangular elements
k+1 k k
Ti,j = 2(Ti,j + 1) + Ti,j+1

where k is the layer in which the element occurs. Here is a visual example of
how our previous array can be extended vertically

249
↑
49 149
99
↑
9 29 89
19 59 .
39
↑
1 5 17 53
3 11 35
7 23
15

We can imagine these as being stacked on top of one another to form a right
tetrahedral arrangement. Further note, when we apply the Collatz function
twice to any element in the upper triangular layers it follows the corresponding
right diagonal as it did before (or more explicitly f 2 (Ti,j
k k
) = Ti−1,j+1 ).

8
 REFERENCES

1. Weisstein Eric W. Collatz problem. From Mathworld–a Wolfram web re-

source. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/CollatzProblem
2. A045883. The Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. https://oeis.org/A045883
3. Bouhamidi, A. (2021). On a General Syracuse Problem with Conjectures.
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2108.13845

4. A000295. The Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. https://oeis.org/A000295

5. A000975. The Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. https://oeis.org/A000975
6. A002450. The Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. https://oeis.org/A002450
7. A001045. The Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. https://oeis.org/A001045

8. A048473. The Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. https://oeis.org/A048473