An Update on the 3x+1 Problem Marc Chamberland Contents
An Update on the 3x+1 Problem Marc Chamberland Contents
An Update on the 3x+1 Problem Marc Chamberland Contents
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<str<strong>on</strong>g>An</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Update</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>3x+1</strong> <strong>Problem</strong><br />
<strong>Marc</strong> <strong>Chamberland</strong><br />
Department of Ma<strong>the</strong>matics and Computer Science<br />
Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, 50112, U.S.A.<br />
E-mail: chamberl@math.grinnell.edu<br />
C<strong>on</strong>tents<br />
1 Introducti<strong>on</strong> 2<br />
2 Numerical Investigati<strong>on</strong>s and Stopping Time 3<br />
2.1 Stopping Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4<br />
2.2 Total Stopping Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7<br />
2.3 The Collatz Graph and Predecessor Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9<br />
3 Representati<strong>on</strong>s of Iterates of a 3x + 1 Map 12<br />
4 Reducti<strong>on</strong> to Residue Classes and O<strong>the</strong>r Sets 13<br />
5 Cycles 15<br />
6 Extending T to Larger Spaces 17<br />
6.1 The Integers Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17<br />
6.2 Rati<strong>on</strong>al Numbers with Odd Denominators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18<br />
6.3 The Ring of 2-adic Integers Z 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18<br />
6.4 The Gaussian Integers and Z 2 [i] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20<br />
6.5 The Real Line lR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20<br />
6.6 The Complex Plane lC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23<br />
7 Generalizati<strong>on</strong>s of 3x + 1 Dynamics 23<br />
8 Miscellaneous 25<br />
AMS subject classificati<strong>on</strong> : 11B83.<br />
Key Words. 3x + 1 problem, Collatz c<strong>on</strong>jecture.<br />
Running title: 3x + 1 survey.<br />
1
2<br />
1 Introducti<strong>on</strong><br />
The <strong>3x+1</strong> <strong>Problem</strong> is perhaps today’s most enigmatic unsolved ma<strong>the</strong>matical<br />
problem: it can be explained to child who has learned how to divide by 2<br />
and multiply by 3, yet <strong>the</strong>re are relatively few str<strong>on</strong>g results toward solving it.<br />
Paul Erdös was correct when he stated, “Ma<strong>the</strong>matics is not ready for such<br />
problems.”<br />
The problem is also referred to as <strong>the</strong> 3n + 1 problem and is associated with<br />
<strong>the</strong> names of Collatz, Hasse, Kakutani, Ulam, Syracuse, and Thwaites. It may<br />
be stated in a variety of ways. Defining <strong>the</strong> Collatz functi<strong>on</strong> as<br />
⎧<br />
⎨ 3x + 1 x ≡ 1 (mod 2)<br />
C(x) =<br />
⎩ x<br />
2<br />
x ≡ 0 (mod 2),<br />
<strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>jecture states that for each m ∈ Z + , <strong>the</strong>re is a k ∈ Z +<br />
such that<br />
C (k) (m) = 1, that is, any positive integer will eventually iterate to 1. Note that<br />
an odd number m iterates to 3m + 1 which <strong>the</strong>n iterates to (3m + 1)/2. One<br />
may <strong>the</strong>refore “compress” <strong>the</strong> dynamics by c<strong>on</strong>sidering <strong>the</strong> map<br />
⎧<br />
⎨ <strong>3x+1</strong><br />
2<br />
x ≡ 1 (mod 2)<br />
T (x) =<br />
⎩ x<br />
2<br />
x ≡ 0 (mod 2).<br />
The map T is usually favored in <strong>the</strong> literature.<br />
To a much lesser extent some authors work with <strong>the</strong> most dynamically<br />
streamlined 3x + 1 functi<strong>on</strong>, F : Z + odd → Z+ , defined by<br />
odd<br />
F (x) = 3x + 1<br />
2 m(<strong>3x+1</strong>)<br />
where m(x) equals <strong>the</strong> number of factors of 2 c<strong>on</strong>tained in <strong>3x+1</strong>. While working<br />
with F allows <strong>on</strong>e to work <strong>on</strong>ly <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> odd positive integers, <strong>the</strong> variability of<br />
m seems to prohibit any substantial analysis.<br />
This survey reflects <strong>the</strong> author’s view of how work <strong>on</strong> this problem can<br />
be structured. I owe a huge debt to Jeff Lagarias and Gün<strong>the</strong>r Wirsching for<br />
<strong>the</strong> important work <strong>the</strong>y have d<strong>on</strong>e in bringing this problem forward.<br />
paper of Lagarias[45](1985) thoroughly catalogued earlier results, made copious<br />
The
3<br />
c<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong>s, and developed many new lines of attack; it has justly become <strong>the</strong><br />
classical reference for this problem. Wirsching’s book [87](1998) begins with<br />
a str<strong>on</strong>g survey, followed by several chapters of his own noteworthy analysis.<br />
Lagarias has also maintained an annotated bibliography [48](1998) of work <strong>on</strong><br />
this problem, ano<strong>the</strong>r valuable resource. This current survey would have been<br />
much more difficult to write in <strong>the</strong> absence of <strong>the</strong>se significant c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
This survey is not meant to be exhaustive, but ra<strong>the</strong>r is complementary to<br />
<strong>the</strong> work of Lagarias and Wirsching. Where I believed <strong>the</strong>re was significant new<br />
work in a given area, I included earlier c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong>s for <strong>the</strong> sake of completeness.<br />
Some areas which have not seen recent development, such as <strong>the</strong> interesting<br />
work c<strong>on</strong>nected to functi<strong>on</strong>al equati<strong>on</strong>s, cellular automata, and <strong>the</strong> origin of<br />
<strong>the</strong> problem, have not been menti<strong>on</strong>ed; <strong>the</strong> reader may c<strong>on</strong>sult Wirsching’s<br />
book [87](1998).<br />
2 Numerical Investigati<strong>on</strong>s and Stopping Time<br />
The structure of <strong>the</strong> positive integers forces any orbit of T to iterate to <strong>on</strong>e of<br />
<strong>the</strong> following:<br />
1. <strong>the</strong> trivial cycle {1, 2}<br />
2. a n<strong>on</strong>-trivial cycle<br />
3. infinity (<strong>the</strong> orbit is divergent)<br />
The 3x + 1 <strong>Problem</strong> claims that opti<strong>on</strong> 1 occurs in all cases. Oliveira e<br />
Silva[61, 62](1999,2000) proved that this holds for all numbers n < 100 × 2 50 ≈<br />
1.12 × 10 17 . This was accomplished with two 133MHz and two 266MHz DEC<br />
Alpha computers and using 14.4 CPU years. This computati<strong>on</strong> ended in April<br />
2000. Roosendaal[65](2003) claims to have improved this to n = 195 × 2 50 ≈<br />
2.19 × 10 17 . His calculati<strong>on</strong>s c<strong>on</strong>tinue, with <strong>the</strong> aid of many o<strong>the</strong>rs in this<br />
distributed-computer project.<br />
The record for proving <strong>the</strong> n<strong>on</strong>-existence of n<strong>on</strong>-trivial cycles is that any<br />
such cycle must have length no less than 272,500,658. This was derived with
4<br />
<strong>the</strong> help of numerical results like those in <strong>the</strong> last paragraph coupled with <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>ory of c<strong>on</strong>tinued fracti<strong>on</strong>s – see a secti<strong>on</strong> 5 for more <strong>on</strong> cycles.<br />
There is a natural algorithm for checking that all numbers up to some N<br />
iterate to <strong>on</strong>e. First, check that every positive integer up to N − 1 iterates to<br />
<strong>on</strong>e, <strong>the</strong>n c<strong>on</strong>sider <strong>the</strong> iterates of N. Once <strong>the</strong> iterates go below N, you are<br />
d<strong>on</strong>e. For this reas<strong>on</strong>, <strong>on</strong>e c<strong>on</strong>siders <strong>the</strong> so-called stopping time of n, that is,<br />
<strong>the</strong> number of steps needed to iterate below n :<br />
σ(n) = inf{k : T (k) (n) < n}.<br />
Related to this is <strong>the</strong> total stopping time, <strong>the</strong> number of steps needed to iterate<br />
to 1:<br />
σ ∞ (n) = inf{k : T (k) (n) = 1}.<br />
One c<strong>on</strong>siders <strong>the</strong> height of n, namely, <strong>the</strong> highest point to which n iterates:<br />
h(n) = sup{T (k) (n) : k ∈ Z + }.<br />
Note that if n is in a divergent trajectory, <strong>the</strong>n σ ∞ (n) = h(n) = ∞. These<br />
functi<strong>on</strong>s may be surprisingly large even for small values of n. For example,<br />
σ(27) = 59, σ ∞ (27) = 111, h(27) = 9232.<br />
The orbit of 27 is depicted in Figure 1.<br />
Roosendaal[65](2003) has computed various “records” for <strong>the</strong>se functi<strong>on</strong>s 1 .<br />
Various results about c<strong>on</strong>secutive numbers with <strong>the</strong> same height are catalogued<br />
by Wirsching[87, pp.21–22](1998).<br />
2.1 Stopping Time<br />
The natural algorithm menti<strong>on</strong>ed earlier can be rephrased: <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem<br />
is true if and <strong>on</strong>ly if every positive integer has a finite stopping time. Terras[77,<br />
1 Roosdendaal has different names for <strong>the</strong>se functi<strong>on</strong>s, and he applies <strong>the</strong>m to <strong>the</strong> map<br />
C(x).
5<br />
4000<br />
3000<br />
2000<br />
1000<br />
0<br />
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70<br />
Figure 1: Orbit starting at 27.
6<br />
78](1976,1979) has proven that <strong>the</strong> set of positive integers with finite stopping<br />
time has density <strong>on</strong>e. Specifically, he showed that <strong>the</strong> limit<br />
1<br />
F (k) := lim |{n ≤ m : σ(n) ≤ k}|<br />
m→∞ m<br />
exists for each k ∈ Z + and lim k→∞ F (k) = 1. A shorter proof was provided<br />
by Everett[31](1977). Lagarias[45](1985) proved a result regarding <strong>the</strong> speed of<br />
c<strong>on</strong>vergence:<br />
F (k) ≥ 1 − 2 −ηk<br />
for all k ∈ Z + , where η = 1 − H(θ), H(x) = −x log(x) − (1 − x) log(1 − x) and<br />
θ = (log 2 3) −1 . He uses this to c<strong>on</strong>strain any possible divergent orbits:<br />
∣ {n ∈ Z + : n ≤ x, σ(n) = ∞} ∣ ∣ ≤ c1 x 1−η<br />
for some positive c<strong>on</strong>stant c 1 . This implies that any divergent trajectory cannot<br />
diverge too slowly. Al<strong>on</strong>g <strong>the</strong>se lines, Garcia and Tal[33](1999) have recently<br />
proven that <strong>the</strong> density of any divergent orbit is zero. This result holds for more<br />
general sets and more general maps.<br />
Al<strong>on</strong>g different lines, Venturini[81](1989) showed that for every ρ > 0, <strong>the</strong> set<br />
{n ∈ Z + : T (k) (n) < ρn for some k} has density <strong>on</strong>e. Allouche[1](1979) showed<br />
that {n ∈ Z + : T (k) (n) < n c for some k} has density <strong>on</strong>e for c > 3/2 − log 2 3 ≈<br />
0.869. This was improved by Korec[39](1994) who obtained <strong>the</strong> same result<br />
with c > log 4 3 ≈ 0.7924.<br />
Not surprisingly, results of a probabilistic nature abound c<strong>on</strong>cerning <strong>the</strong>se<br />
3x + 1 functi<strong>on</strong>s. <str<strong>on</strong>g>An</str<strong>on</strong>g> assumpti<strong>on</strong> often made is that after many iterati<strong>on</strong>s, <strong>the</strong><br />
next iterate has an equal chance of being ei<strong>the</strong>r even or odd. Wag<strong>on</strong>[84](1985)<br />
argues that <strong>the</strong> average stopping time for odd n (with <strong>the</strong> functi<strong>on</strong> C(x)) approaches<br />
a c<strong>on</strong>stant, specifically, <strong>the</strong> number<br />
∞∑<br />
[1 + 2i + i log 2 3]<br />
i=1<br />
c i<br />
2 [i log 2<br />
3]<br />
≈ 9.477955<br />
where c i is <strong>the</strong> number of sequences c<strong>on</strong>taining 3/2 and 1/2 with exactly i 3/2’s<br />
such that <strong>the</strong> product of <strong>the</strong> whole sequence is less than 1, but <strong>the</strong> product
7<br />
of any initial sequence is greater than 1. Note that this formula bypasses <strong>the</strong><br />
pesky “+1”, perhaps justified asymptotically. This seems to be borne out in<br />
Wag<strong>on</strong>’s numerical testing of stopping times for odd numbers up to n = 10 9 ,<br />
which matches well with <strong>the</strong> approximati<strong>on</strong> given above.<br />
2.2 Total Stopping Time<br />
Results regarding <strong>the</strong> total stopping time are also plenteous. Applegate and<br />
Lagarias[9](2002) make use of two new auxiliary functi<strong>on</strong>s: <strong>the</strong> stopping time<br />
ratio<br />
γ(n) := σ ∞(n)<br />
log n ,<br />
and <strong>the</strong> <strong>on</strong>es-ratio ρ(n) for c<strong>on</strong>vergent sequences, defined as <strong>the</strong> ratio of <strong>the</strong><br />
number of odd terms in <strong>the</strong> first σ ∞ (n) iterates divided by σ ∞ (n). It is easy<br />
to see that γ(n) ≥ 1/ log 2 for all n, with equality <strong>on</strong>ly when n = 2 k . Str<strong>on</strong>ger<br />
inequalities are<br />
γ(n) ≥<br />
1<br />
log 2 − ρ(n) log 3<br />
for any c<strong>on</strong>vergent trajectory, while if ρ(n) ≤ 0.61, <strong>the</strong>n for any positive ɛ,<br />
γ(n) ≤<br />
1<br />
log 2 − ρ(n) log 3 + ɛ<br />
for all sufficiently large n. If <strong>on</strong>e assumes that <strong>the</strong> <strong>on</strong>es-ratio equals 1/2 (which is<br />
equivalent to <strong>the</strong> equal probability of encountering an even or an odd after many<br />
iterates), we have that <strong>the</strong> average value of γ(n) is 2/ log(4/3) ≈ 6.95212, as<br />
has been observed by Shanks[69](1965), Crandall[26](1978), Lagarias[45](1985),<br />
Rawsthorne[64](1985), Lagarias and Weiss[47](1992), and Borovkov and Pfeifer[15](2000).<br />
Experimental evidence supports this observati<strong>on</strong>. Compare this with <strong>the</strong> upper<br />
bounds suggested by <strong>the</strong> stochastic models of Lagarias and Weiss[47](1992):<br />
lim sup γ(n) ≈ 41.677647.<br />
n→∞<br />
Applegate and Lagarias[9](2002) note from records of Roosendaal[65](2003)<br />
what is apparently <strong>the</strong> largest known value of γ:<br />
n = 7, 219, 136, 416, 377, 236, 271, 195
8<br />
produces σ ∞ (n) = 1848 and γ(n) ≈ 36.7169. Applegate and Lagarias seek a<br />
lower bound for γ which holds infinitely often. Using <strong>the</strong> well-known fact that<br />
T (k) (2 k − 1) = 3 k − 1 (see, for example, Kuttler[44](1994)), <strong>the</strong>y note that<br />
γ(2 k − 1) ≥<br />
log 2 + log 3<br />
(log 2) 2 ≈ 3.729.<br />
They go <strong>on</strong> to show that <strong>the</strong>re are infinitely many c<strong>on</strong>verging n whose <strong>on</strong>es-ratio<br />
is at least 14/29, hence giving <strong>the</strong> lower bound<br />
γ(n) ≥<br />
29<br />
29 log 2 − 14 log 3 ≈ 6.14316<br />
for infinitely many n. Though <strong>the</strong> proof involves an extensive computati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
search <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> Collatz tree to depth 60, <strong>the</strong> authors note with surprise that <strong>the</strong><br />
probabilistic average of γ(n) – approximately 6.95212 – was not attained.<br />
Roosendaal[65](2003) defines a functi<strong>on</strong> which he calls <strong>the</strong> residue of a number<br />
x ∈ Z + , denoted Res(x). Suppose x is a c<strong>on</strong>vergent C-trajectory with E<br />
even terms and O odd terms before reaching <strong>on</strong>e. Then <strong>the</strong> residue is defined<br />
as<br />
Res(x) := 2E<br />
x3 O .<br />
Roosendall notes that Res(993) = 1.253142 . . ., and that this is <strong>the</strong> highest<br />
residue attained for all x < 2 32 . He c<strong>on</strong>jectures that this holds for all x ∈ Z + .<br />
Zarnowski[89](2001) recasts <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem as <strong>on</strong>e with Markov chains.<br />
Let g be <strong>the</strong> slightly altered functi<strong>on</strong><br />
⎧<br />
⎪⎨<br />
g(x) =<br />
⎪⎩ 1 x = 1,<br />
<strong>3x+1</strong><br />
2<br />
x ≡ 1 (mod 2), x > 1<br />
x<br />
2<br />
x ≡ 0 (mod 2)<br />
e n <strong>the</strong> column vector whose n th entry is <strong>on</strong>e and all o<strong>the</strong>r entries zero, and <strong>the</strong><br />
transiti<strong>on</strong> matrix P be defined by<br />
⎧<br />
⎨ 1 if g(i) = j,<br />
P ij =<br />
⎩ 0 o<strong>the</strong>rwise.<br />
This gives a corresp<strong>on</strong>dence between g (k) (n) and e T n P k , and <strong>the</strong> <strong>3x+1</strong> <strong>Problem</strong><br />
is true if<br />
lim P k = [1 0 0 · · ·],<br />
k→∞
9<br />
84<br />
85<br />
128<br />
40<br />
26<br />
12<br />
42<br />
64<br />
20<br />
13<br />
6<br />
21<br />
32<br />
10<br />
3<br />
16<br />
5<br />
8<br />
4<br />
2<br />
1<br />
Figure 2: The Collatz graph.<br />
where 1 and 0 represent c<strong>on</strong>stant column vectors. Zarnowski goes <strong>on</strong> to show<br />
that <strong>the</strong> structure of a certain generalized inverse X of I − P encodes <strong>the</strong> total<br />
stopping times of Z + .<br />
For pictorial representati<strong>on</strong>s of stopping times for an extensi<strong>on</strong> of T , see<br />
Dum<strong>on</strong>t and Reiter[29].<br />
2.3 The Collatz Graph and Predecessor Sets<br />
The topic of stopping times is intricately linked with <strong>the</strong> Collatz tree or Collatz<br />
graph, <strong>the</strong> directed graph whose vertices are predecessors of <strong>on</strong>e via <strong>the</strong> map T .<br />
It is depicted in Figure 2.3.<br />
The structure of <strong>the</strong> Collatz graph has attracted some attenti<strong>on</strong>. <str<strong>on</strong>g>An</str<strong>on</strong>g>daloro[4](2002)<br />
studied results about <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>nectedness of subsets of <strong>the</strong> Collatz graph. Urvoy[79](2000)
10<br />
proved that <strong>the</strong> Collatz graph is n<strong>on</strong>-regular, in <strong>the</strong> sense that it does not have<br />
a decidable m<strong>on</strong>adic sec<strong>on</strong>d order <strong>the</strong>ory; this is related to <strong>the</strong> work of C<strong>on</strong>way<br />
menti<strong>on</strong>ed in Secti<strong>on</strong> 4.<br />
Instead of analyzing how fast iterates approach <strong>on</strong>e, <strong>on</strong>e may c<strong>on</strong>sider <strong>the</strong><br />
set of numbers which approach a given number a, that is, <strong>the</strong> predecessor set of<br />
a:<br />
P T (a) := {b ∈ Z + : T (k) (b) = a for some k ∈ Z + }<br />
Since such sets are obviously infinitely large, <strong>on</strong>e may measure those terms in<br />
<strong>the</strong> predecessor set not exceeding a given bound x, that is,<br />
Z a (x) := |{n ∈ P T (a) : n ≤ x}|.<br />
The size of Z a (x) was first studied by Crandall[26](1979), who proved <strong>the</strong> existence<br />
of some c > 0 such that<br />
Z 1 (x) > x c ,<br />
x sufficiently large.<br />
Wirsching[87, p.4](1998) notes that this result extends to Z a (x) for all a ≢<br />
0 mod 3. Using <strong>the</strong> tree-search method of Crandall, Sander[67](1990) gave a specific<br />
lower bound, c = 0.25, and Applegate and Lagarias[6](1995) extended this<br />
to c = 0.643. Using functi<strong>on</strong>al difference inequalities, Krasikov[41](1989) introduced<br />
a different approach and obtained c = 3/7 ≈ 0.42857. Wirsching[85](1993)<br />
used <strong>the</strong> same approach to obtain c = 0.48. Applegate and Lagarias[7](1995)<br />
superseded <strong>the</strong>se results with Z 1 (x) > x 0.81 , for sufficiently large x, by enhancing<br />
Krasikov’s approach with n<strong>on</strong>linear programming. Recently, Krasikov and<br />
Lagarias[42](2002) streamlined this approach to obtain<br />
Z 1 (x) > x 0.84 ,<br />
x sufficiently large.<br />
Wirsching[87](1998) has pushed <strong>the</strong>se types of results in a different directi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
On a seemingly different course, for j, k ∈ Z + let R j,k denote <strong>the</strong> set of all sums<br />
of <strong>the</strong> form<br />
2 α0 + 2 α1 3 + 2 α2 3 2 + · · · + 2 αj 3 j
11<br />
where j + k ≥ α 0 > · · · > α j ≥ 0. The size of R j,k satisfies<br />
⎛ ⎞<br />
|R j,k | = ⎝ j + k + 1 ⎠ .<br />
j + 1<br />
To maximize <strong>the</strong> size, <strong>on</strong>e has |R j−1,j | = ( 2j<br />
j ). Wirsching posed <strong>the</strong> following<br />
“covering c<strong>on</strong>jecture”: <strong>the</strong>re is a c<strong>on</strong>stant K > 0 such that for every j, l ∈ Z +<br />
we have <strong>the</strong> implicati<strong>on</strong><br />
|R j−1,j | ≥ K ·2·3 l−1 =⇒ R j−1,j covers <strong>the</strong> prime residue classes to modulus 3 l .<br />
This c<strong>on</strong>jecture implies a str<strong>on</strong>ger versi<strong>on</strong> of <strong>the</strong> earlier inequalities:<br />
(<br />
)<br />
Z a (ax)<br />
lim inf inf<br />
x→∞ a≢0 mod 3 x δ > 0 for any δ ∈ (0, 1).<br />
Wirsching argues that, intuitively, <strong>the</strong> sums of mixed powers can be seen as<br />
accumulated n<strong>on</strong>-linearities occuring when iterating <strong>the</strong> map T .<br />
A large part of Wirsching’s book [87](1998) c<strong>on</strong>cerns a finer study of <strong>the</strong><br />
predecessor sets using <strong>the</strong> functi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
e l (k, a) = |{b ∈ Z + : T (k+l) (b) = a, k even iterates, l odd iterates}|.<br />
Defining <strong>the</strong> n th estimating series as<br />
s n (a) :=<br />
∞∑<br />
e l (n + ⌊l log 2 (3/2)⌋, a) ,<br />
l=1<br />
Wirsching proves <strong>the</strong> implicati<strong>on</strong><br />
lim inf<br />
n→∞<br />
s n (a)<br />
( x<br />
) log2 β<br />
β n > 0 =⇒ Z a (x) ≥ C for some c<strong>on</strong>stant C > 0 and large x.<br />
a<br />
Since e l (k, a) depends <strong>on</strong> a <strong>on</strong>ly through its residue class to modulo 3 l , Wirsching<br />
c<strong>on</strong>siders <strong>the</strong> functi<strong>on</strong>s e l (k, ·) whose domain is Z 3 , <strong>the</strong> group of 3-adic integers.<br />
Since e l (k, a) = 0 whenever l ≥ 1 and 3|a, <strong>the</strong> set {e l (k, ·) : l ≥ 1, k ≥ 0} is<br />
a family of functi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> compact topological group Z ∗ 3 of invertible 3-adic<br />
integers. This applicati<strong>on</strong> of 3-adic integers to <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 <strong>Problem</strong> was first<br />
seen in Wirsching[86](1994), and similar analysis was also d<strong>on</strong>e by Applegate
12<br />
and Lagarias[8](1995). The functi<strong>on</strong>s e l (k, ·) are integrable with respect to Z ∗ 3 ’s<br />
unique normalized Haar measure, yielding <strong>the</strong> 3-adic average<br />
⎛ ⎞<br />
∫<br />
1<br />
ē l (k) := e l (k, a)da = ⎝ k + l ⎠<br />
2 · 3 l−1 .<br />
l<br />
Several results follow with this approach, including<br />
∫<br />
1<br />
lim inf<br />
n→∞ 2 n s n (a)da > 0,<br />
Z ∗ 3<br />
Z ∗ 3<br />
implying that every predecessor set P T (a) with a ≢<br />
density.<br />
0 mod 3 has positive<br />
3 Representati<strong>on</strong>s of Iterates of a 3x + 1 Map<br />
The oft-cited result in this area is due to Böhm and S<strong>on</strong>tacchi[14](1978): <strong>the</strong><br />
3x + 1 problem is equivalent to showing that each n ∈ Z + may be written as<br />
(<br />
)<br />
n = 1<br />
m−1<br />
∑<br />
3 m 2 vm − 3 m−k−1 2 v k<br />
where m ∈ Z + and 0 ≤ v 0 < v 1 < · · · v m are integers. Similar results were<br />
obtained by Amigó[2, Prop.4.2](2001).<br />
k=0<br />
Sinai[70](2003) studies <strong>the</strong> functi<strong>on</strong> F <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> set ⊓ defined as<br />
⊓ = {1} ∪ ⊓ + ∪ ⊓ − , ⊓ ±1 = 6Z + ± 1.<br />
Let k 1 , k 2 , . . . , k m ∈ Z + and ɛ = ±1. Then <strong>the</strong> set of x ∈ ⊓ ɛ to which <strong>on</strong>e can<br />
apply F (k1) F (k2) · · · F (km) is an arithmetic progressi<strong>on</strong><br />
σ (k1,k2,...,km,ɛ) = {6 · (2 k1+k2+···+km + q m ) + ɛ}<br />
for some q m such that 1 ≤ q m ≤ 2 k1+k2+···+km . Moreover,<br />
F (k1) F (k2) · · · F (km) (σ (k1,k2,...,km,ɛ) ) = {6 · (3 m p + r) + δ}<br />
for some r and δ satisfying 1 ≤ r ≤ 3 m , δ = ±1. Results in this spirit may<br />
be found in <str<strong>on</strong>g>An</str<strong>on</strong>g>drei et al.[5](2000) and Kuttler[44](1994). Sinai uses this result
13<br />
to obtain some distributi<strong>on</strong>al informati<strong>on</strong> regarding trajectories of F . Let 1 ≤<br />
m ≤ M, x 0 ∈ ⊓ and<br />
( m<br />
)<br />
ω = log(F (m) (x 0 )) − log(x 0 ) + m(2 log 2 − log 3)<br />
√ .<br />
M M<br />
If 0 ≤ t ≤ 1, <strong>the</strong>n ω(t) behaves like a Wiener trajectory.<br />
Related to <strong>the</strong>se results is <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong> made in Blecksmith et al.[13](1998)<br />
between <strong>the</strong> <strong>3x+1</strong> problem and 3-smooth representati<strong>on</strong>s of numbers. A number<br />
n ∈ Z + has a 3-smooth representati<strong>on</strong> if and <strong>on</strong>ly if <strong>the</strong>re exist integers {a i }<br />
and {b i } such that<br />
n =<br />
k∑<br />
2 ai 3 bi , a 1 > a 2 > · · · > a k ≥ 0, 0 ≤ b 1 < b 2 < · · · < b k .<br />
i=1<br />
Note <strong>the</strong> similarity with <strong>the</strong> terms c<strong>on</strong>sidered by Wirsching in <strong>the</strong> last secti<strong>on</strong>.<br />
These numbers were studied at least as early as Ramanujan. A 3-smooth representati<strong>on</strong><br />
of n is special of level k if<br />
n = 3 k + 3 k−1 2 a1 + · · · + 3 · 2 a k−1<br />
+ 2 a k<br />
in which every power of 3 appears up to 3 k . For a fixed k, each n has at most<br />
<strong>on</strong>e such representati<strong>on</strong> – see Lagarias[46](1990), who credits <strong>the</strong> proof to D<strong>on</strong><br />
Coppersmith. Blecksmith et al. <strong>the</strong>n offer <strong>the</strong> reader to prove that m ∈ Z +<br />
iterates to 1 under C if and <strong>on</strong>ly if <strong>the</strong>re are integers e and f such that <strong>the</strong><br />
positive integer n = 2 e − 3 f m has a special 3-smooth representati<strong>on</strong> of level<br />
k = f − 1. The choice of e and f is not unique, if it exists.<br />
4 Reducti<strong>on</strong> to Residue Classes and O<strong>the</strong>r Sets<br />
Once <strong>on</strong>e is c<strong>on</strong>vinced that <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem is true, a natural approach is<br />
to find subsets S ⊂ Z + such that proving <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>jecture <strong>on</strong> S implies it is true<br />
<strong>on</strong> Z + . It is obvious this holds if S = {x : x ≡ 3 mod 4} since numbers in<br />
<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r residue classes decrease after <strong>on</strong>e or two iterati<strong>on</strong>s. Puddu[63](1986)<br />
and Cadogan[19](1984) showed that this works if S = {x : x ≡ 1 mod 4}.<br />
The work of Böhm and S<strong>on</strong>tacchi[14](1978) implies that m odd T -iterates of x
14<br />
0 0<br />
2<br />
1<br />
3<br />
2<br />
1<br />
Figure 3: Dynamics of Integers (a) mod 3 and (b) mod 4.<br />
equals (3/2) m (x + 1) − 1, hence odds must eventually become even. Coupling<br />
this with <strong>the</strong> dynamics of integers in Z 4 (see Figure 3b) implies both S = {x :<br />
x ≡ 1 mod 4} and S = {x : x ≡ 2 mod 4} are sufficient. Similarly, Figure<br />
3a indicates S = {x : x ≡ 1 mod 3} or S = {x : x ≡ 2 mod 3} suffice.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>An</str<strong>on</strong>g>daloro[3](2000) has improved <strong>the</strong>se to S = {x : x ≡ 1 mod 16}. All of <strong>the</strong>se<br />
sets have an easily computed positive density, <strong>the</strong> lowest being <str<strong>on</strong>g>An</str<strong>on</strong>g>daloro’s set<br />
S at 1/16. Korec and Znam[40](1987) significantly improve this by showing <strong>the</strong><br />
sufficiency of <strong>the</strong> set S = {x : x ≡ a mod p n } where p is an odd prime, a is a<br />
primitive root mod p 2 , p ̸ |a, and n ∈ Z + . This set has density p −n which can be<br />
made arbitrarily small. In a similar vein, Yang[88](1998) proved <strong>the</strong> sufficiency<br />
of <strong>the</strong> set {n : n ≡ 3 + 10 }<br />
3 (4k − 1) mod 2 2k+2<br />
for any fixed k ∈ Z + . Korec and Znam also claim to have a sufficient set with<br />
density zero, but details were not provided.<br />
To this end, a recent result of<br />
M<strong>on</strong>ks[57](2002) is noteworthy. The last secti<strong>on</strong> showed how difficult it is to<br />
find a usable closed form expressi<strong>on</strong> for T (k) (x). If <strong>the</strong> “+1” was omitted from<br />
<strong>the</strong> iterati<strong>on</strong>s, this would yield T (k) (x) = 3 m x/2 k , where m is <strong>the</strong> number of<br />
odd terms in <strong>the</strong> first k iterati<strong>on</strong>s of x. M<strong>on</strong>ks[57](2002) has proven that <strong>the</strong>re<br />
are infinitely many “linear versi<strong>on</strong>s” of <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem. <str<strong>on</strong>g>An</str<strong>on</strong>g> example given
15<br />
is <strong>the</strong> map<br />
⎧<br />
⎪⎨<br />
R(n) =<br />
⎪⎩<br />
1<br />
11n if 11|n<br />
136<br />
15<br />
n if 15|n and NOT A<br />
5<br />
17n if 17|n and NOT A<br />
4<br />
5n if 5|n and NOT A<br />
26<br />
21n if 21|n and NOT A<br />
7<br />
13n if 13|n and NOT A<br />
1<br />
7n if 7|n and NOT A<br />
33<br />
4<br />
n if 4|n and NOT A<br />
5<br />
2n if 2|n and NOT A<br />
7n<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rwise<br />
where NOT A means “n<strong>on</strong>e of <strong>the</strong> above” c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s hold. M<strong>on</strong>ks shows <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>3x+1</strong> problem is true if and <strong>on</strong>ly if for every positive integer n <strong>the</strong> R-orbit of 2 n<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tains 2. The proof uses C<strong>on</strong>way’s Fractran language[25](1987) which C<strong>on</strong>way<br />
used [24](1972) to prove <strong>the</strong> existence of a similar map whose l<strong>on</strong>g-term behavior<br />
<strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> integers was algorithmically undecidable. C<strong>on</strong>necting this material back<br />
to sufficient sets, <strong>on</strong>e notes that <strong>the</strong> density of <strong>the</strong> set {2 n : n ∈ Z + } is zero<br />
(albeit, <strong>on</strong>e has a much more complicated map).<br />
5 Cycles<br />
Studying <strong>the</strong> structure of any possible cycles of T has received much attenti<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Letting Ω be a cycle of T , and Ω odd , Ω even denote <strong>the</strong> odd and even terms<br />
in Ω, <strong>on</strong>e may rearrange <strong>the</strong> equati<strong>on</strong><br />
∑<br />
x = ∑ T (x)<br />
x∈Ω x∈Ω<br />
to obtain<br />
∑<br />
x =<br />
x∈Ω even<br />
∑<br />
x∈Ω odd<br />
x + |Ω odd | .<br />
This was noted by <strong>Chamberland</strong>[21](1999) and M<strong>on</strong>ks[57](2002).<br />
Using modular arithmetic, Figure 3 indicates <strong>the</strong> dynamics of integers under<br />
T both in Z 3 and Z 4 . Since no cycles may have all of its elements of <strong>the</strong> form
16<br />
0 mod 3, 0 mod 4, or 3 mod 4, <strong>the</strong> figures imply that no integer cycles (except<br />
{0}) have elements of <strong>the</strong> form form 0 mod 3. Also, <strong>the</strong> number of terms in<br />
a cycle c<strong>on</strong>gruent to 1 mod 4 equals <strong>the</strong> number c<strong>on</strong>gruent to 2 mod 4. This<br />
analysis was presented by <strong>Chamberland</strong>[21](1999).<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>An</str<strong>on</strong>g> early cycles result c<strong>on</strong>cerns a special class of T -cycles called circuits. A<br />
circuit is a cycle which may be written as k odd elements followed by l even<br />
elements. Davis<strong>on</strong>[27](1976) showed that <strong>the</strong>re is a <strong>on</strong>e-to-<strong>on</strong>e corresp<strong>on</strong>dence<br />
between circuits and soluti<strong>on</strong>s (k, l, h) in positive integers such that<br />
(2 k+l − 3 k )h = 2 l − 1. (1)<br />
It was later shown using c<strong>on</strong>tinued fracti<strong>on</strong>s and transcendental number <strong>the</strong>ory<br />
(see Steiner[71](1977), Rozier[66](1990)) that equati<strong>on</strong> (1) has <strong>on</strong>ly <strong>the</strong> soluti<strong>on</strong><br />
(1, 1, 1). This implies that {1, 2} is <strong>the</strong> <strong>on</strong>ly circuit.<br />
For general cycles of T , Böhm and S<strong>on</strong>tacchi[14](1978) showed that x ∈ Z +<br />
is in an n-cycle of T if and <strong>on</strong>ly if <strong>the</strong>re are integers 0 ≤ v 0 ≤ v 1 ≤ · · · ≤ v m = n<br />
such that<br />
m−1<br />
1 ∑<br />
x =<br />
2 n − 3 m 3 m−k 2 v k<br />
k=0<br />
A similar result is derived by B. Seifert[68](1988).<br />
Eliahou[30](1993) has given some str<strong>on</strong>g results c<strong>on</strong>cerning any n<strong>on</strong>-trivial<br />
cycle Ω of T . Letting Ω 0 denote <strong>the</strong> odd terms in Ω, he showed<br />
(<br />
log 2 3 + 1 )<br />
≤ |Ω| (<br />
M |Ω o | ≤ log 2 3 + 1 )<br />
m<br />
where m and M are <strong>the</strong> smallest and largest terms in Ω. Note that for “large”<br />
cycles this implies<br />
|Ω|<br />
|Ω 0 | ≈ log 2 3.<br />
Eliahou uses this in c<strong>on</strong>juncti<strong>on</strong> with <strong>the</strong> Diophantine approximati<strong>on</strong> of log 2 3<br />
and <strong>the</strong> numerical bound m > 2 40 to show that<br />
|Ω| = 301994a + 17087915b + 85137581c<br />
where a, b, c are n<strong>on</strong>negative integers, b ≥ 1 and ac = 0. Similar results were<br />
found by Chisala[22](1994) and Halbeisen and Hungerbühler[35](1997). This<br />
(2)
17<br />
approach was pushed <strong>the</strong> far<strong>the</strong>st by Tempkin and Arteaga[75](1997). They<br />
tighten <strong>the</strong> relati<strong>on</strong>s in (2) and use a better lower bound <strong>on</strong> m to obtain<br />
|Ω| = 187363077a + 272500658b + 357638239c<br />
where a, b, c are n<strong>on</strong>negative integers, b ≥ 1 and ac = 0.<br />
It is not apparent how <strong>the</strong> even-odd dissecti<strong>on</strong> of a cycle used in <strong>the</strong>se results<br />
may be extended to a finer dissecti<strong>on</strong> of <strong>the</strong> terms in a cycle, say, mod 4. Related<br />
to this, Brox[17](2000) has proven that <strong>the</strong>re are finitely many cycles such that<br />
σ 1 < 2 log(σ 1 + σ 3 )<br />
where σ i equals <strong>the</strong> number of terms in a cycle c<strong>on</strong>gruent to i mod 4.<br />
6 Extending T to Larger Spaces<br />
A comm<strong>on</strong> problem-solving technique is to imbed a problem into a larger class<br />
of problems and use techniques appropriate to that new space. Much work has<br />
been d<strong>on</strong>e al<strong>on</strong>g <strong>the</strong>se lines for <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem. The subsequent subsecti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
detail work d<strong>on</strong>e in increasingly larger spaces.<br />
6.1 The Integers Z<br />
The first natural extensi<strong>on</strong> of T is to all of Z. The definiti<strong>on</strong> of T suffices to<br />
cover this case. One so<strong>on</strong> finds three new cycles: {0}, {−5, −7, −10}, and <strong>the</strong><br />
l<strong>on</strong>g cycle<br />
{−17, −25, −37, −55, −82, −41, −61, −91, −136, −68, −34}.<br />
These new cycles could also be obtained (without minus signs) if <strong>on</strong>e c<strong>on</strong>sidered<br />
<strong>the</strong> map define T ′ (n) = −T (−n), which corresp<strong>on</strong>ds to <strong>the</strong> “3x − 1” problem.<br />
It is c<strong>on</strong>jectured that <strong>the</strong>se cycles are all <strong>the</strong> cycles of T <strong>on</strong> Z. This problem<br />
was c<strong>on</strong>sidered by Seifert[68](1988).
18<br />
6.2 Rati<strong>on</strong>al Numbers with Odd Denominators<br />
Just as <strong>the</strong> study of <strong>the</strong> “3x-1” problem of <strong>the</strong> last subsecti<strong>on</strong> is equivalent to<br />
<strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem <strong>on</strong> Z − , Lagarias[46](1990) has extended <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 to <strong>the</strong><br />
rati<strong>on</strong>als by c<strong>on</strong>sidering <strong>the</strong> class of maps<br />
⎧<br />
⎨<br />
T k (x) =<br />
⎩<br />
positive k ≡ ±1 mod 6 with (x, k) = 1.<br />
3x+k<br />
2<br />
x ≡ 1 (mod 2)<br />
x<br />
2<br />
x ≡ 0 (mod 2)<br />
He has shown that cycles for T k<br />
corresp<strong>on</strong>d to rati<strong>on</strong>al cycles x/k for <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 functi<strong>on</strong> T . Lagarias proves<br />
<strong>the</strong>re are integer cycles of T k for infinitely many k (with estimates <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> number<br />
of cycles and bounds <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir lengths) and c<strong>on</strong>jectures that <strong>the</strong>re are integer<br />
cycles for all k. Halbeisen and Hungerbühler[35](1997) derived similar bounds<br />
as Eliahou[30](1993) <strong>on</strong> cycle lengths for rati<strong>on</strong>al cycles.<br />
6.3 The Ring of 2-adic Integers Z 2<br />
The next extensi<strong>on</strong> is to <strong>the</strong> ring Z 2 of 2-adic integers c<strong>on</strong>sisting of infinite<br />
binary sequences of <strong>the</strong> form<br />
a = a 0 + a 1 2 + a 2 2 2 + · · · =<br />
∞∑<br />
a j 2 j<br />
where a j ∈ {0, 1} for all n<strong>on</strong>-negative integers j. C<strong>on</strong>gruence is defined by<br />
a ≡ a 0 mod 2.<br />
Chisala[22](1994) extends C to Z 2 but <strong>the</strong>n restricts his attenti<strong>on</strong> to <strong>the</strong><br />
rati<strong>on</strong>als. He derives interesting restricti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> rati<strong>on</strong>al cycles, for example, if<br />
j=0<br />
m is <strong>the</strong> least element of a positive rati<strong>on</strong>al cycle, <strong>the</strong>n<br />
m > 2 ⌈m log 2 3⌉<br />
m − 3.<br />
A more developed extensi<strong>on</strong> of T , initiated by Lagarias[45](1985), defines<br />
⎧<br />
⎨ a/2 if a ≡ 0 mod 2<br />
T : Z 2 → Z 2 , T (a) :=<br />
⎩ (3a + 1)/2 if a ≡ 1 mod 2
19<br />
It has been shown (see Ma<strong>the</strong>ws and Watts[52](1984) and Müller[59](1991))<br />
that <strong>the</strong> extended T is surjective, not injective, infinitely many times differentiable,<br />
not analytic, measure-preserving with respect to <strong>the</strong> Haar measure,<br />
and str<strong>on</strong>gly mixing. Similar results c<strong>on</strong>cerning iterates of T may be found in<br />
Lagarias[45](1985), Müller[59](1991),[60](1994) and Terras[77](1976). Defining<br />
<strong>the</strong> shift map σ : Z 2 → Z 2 as<br />
⎧<br />
⎨<br />
σ(x) =<br />
⎩<br />
x−1<br />
2<br />
x ≡ 1 (mod 2)<br />
x<br />
2<br />
x ≡ 0 (mod 2)<br />
,<br />
Lagarias[45](1985) proved that T is c<strong>on</strong>jugate to σ via <strong>the</strong> parity vector map<br />
Φ −1 : Z 2 → Z 2 defined by<br />
Φ −1 (x) =<br />
∞∑<br />
2 k (T k (x) mod 2),<br />
k=0<br />
that is, Φ ◦ T ◦ Φ −1 = σ. Bernstein[11](1994) gives an explicit formula for <strong>the</strong><br />
inverse c<strong>on</strong>jugacy Φ, namely<br />
Φ(2 d0 + 2 d1 + 2 d2 + · · ·) = − 1 3 2d0 − 1 9 2d1 − 1<br />
27 2d2 − · · ·<br />
where 0 ≤ d 0 < d 1 < d 2 < . . .. He also shows that <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem is<br />
equivalent to having Z + ⊂ Φ ( 1<br />
3 Z) . Letting Q odd denote <strong>the</strong> set of rati<strong>on</strong>als<br />
whose reduced form has an odd denominator, Bernstein and Lagarias[12](1996)<br />
proved that <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem has no divergent orbits if Φ −1 (Q odd ) ⊂ (Q odd ).<br />
Recent developments al<strong>on</strong>g <strong>the</strong>se lines have been made by M<strong>on</strong>ks and Yazinski[58](2002).<br />
Since Hedlund[36](1969) proved that <strong>the</strong> automorphism group of σ is simply<br />
Aut(σ) = {id, V }, where id is <strong>the</strong> identity map and V (x) = −1 − x, M<strong>on</strong>ks and<br />
Yazinski define a functi<strong>on</strong> Ω as<br />
Ω = Φ ◦ V ◦ Φ −1 .<br />
We <strong>the</strong>n have that Ω is <strong>the</strong> unique n<strong>on</strong>trivial autoc<strong>on</strong>jugacy of <strong>the</strong> <strong>3x+1</strong> map, i.e.<br />
Ω ◦ T = T ◦ Ω and Ω 2 = id. Coupled with <strong>the</strong> results of Bernstein and Lagarias,<br />
<strong>the</strong> authors show that three statements are equivalent: Φ −1 (Q odd ) ⊂ (Q odd ),<br />
Ω(Q odd ) ⊂ (Q odd ), and no rati<strong>on</strong>al 2-adic integer has a divergent T -trajectory.
20<br />
M<strong>on</strong>ks and Yazinski also extend <strong>the</strong> results of Eliahou[30](1993) and Lagarias[45](1985)<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cerning <strong>the</strong> density of “odd” points in an orbit. Let κ n (x) denote <strong>the</strong> number<br />
of <strong>on</strong>es in <strong>the</strong> first n-digits of <strong>the</strong> parity vector x. If x ∈ Q odd eventually<br />
enters an n-periodic orbit, <strong>the</strong>n<br />
ln(2)<br />
ln(3 + 1/m) ≤ lim κ n (x) ln(2)<br />
≤<br />
n→∞ n ln(3 + 1/M)<br />
where m, M are <strong>the</strong> least and greatest cyclic elements in <strong>the</strong> eventual cycle. If<br />
x ∈ Q odd diverges, <strong>the</strong>n<br />
ln(2) κ n (x)<br />
≤ lim inf<br />
ln(3) n→∞ n .<br />
M<strong>on</strong>ks and Yazinski define ano<strong>the</strong>r extensi<strong>on</strong> of T , namely ξ : Z 2 → Z 2 as<br />
⎧<br />
⎨ Ω(x) x ≡ 1 (mod 2)<br />
ξ(x) =<br />
⎩ x<br />
2<br />
x ≡ 0 (mod 2)<br />
and prove that <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem is equivalent to having <strong>the</strong> number <strong>on</strong>e in<br />
<strong>the</strong> ξ-orbit of every positive.<br />
6.4 The Gaussian Integers and Z 2 [i]<br />
Joseph[38](1998) extends T fur<strong>the</strong>r to Z 2 [i], defining ˜T as<br />
⎧<br />
α/2, if α ∈ [0]<br />
⎪⎨ (3α + 1)/2, if α ∈ [1]<br />
˜T (α) =<br />
(3α + i)/2, if α ∈ [i]<br />
⎪⎩ (3α + 1 + i)/2, if α ∈ [1 + i]<br />
where [x] denotes <strong>the</strong> equivalence class of x in Z 2 [i]/2Z 2 [i]. Joseph shows that<br />
˜T is not c<strong>on</strong>jugate to T × T via a Z 2 -module isomorphism, but is topologically<br />
c<strong>on</strong>jugate to T ×T . Arguing akin to results of <strong>the</strong> last subsecti<strong>on</strong>, Joseph shows<br />
that ˜T is chaotic (in <strong>the</strong> sense of Devaney). Kucinski[43](2000) studies cycles<br />
of Joseph’s extensi<strong>on</strong> ˜T restricted to <strong>the</strong> Gaussian integers Z[i].<br />
6.5 The Real Line lR<br />
A fur<strong>the</strong>r extensi<strong>on</strong> of T to <strong>the</strong> real line lR is interesting in that it allows<br />
tools from <strong>the</strong> study of iterating c<strong>on</strong>tinuous maps. In an unpublished paper,
21<br />
Tempkin[76](1993) studies what is geometrically <strong>the</strong> simplest such extensi<strong>on</strong>:<br />
<strong>the</strong> straight-line extensi<strong>on</strong> to <strong>the</strong> Collatz functi<strong>on</strong> C:<br />
⎧<br />
⎨<br />
C(x),<br />
x ∈ Z<br />
L(x) =<br />
⎩ C(⌊x⌋) + (x − ⌊x⌋)(C(⌈x⌉) − C(⌊x⌋)), x ∉ Z<br />
⎧<br />
⎨ −(5n − 2)x + n(10n − 3), x ∈ [2n − 1, 2n]<br />
=<br />
.<br />
⎩ (5n + 4)x − n(10n + 7), x ∈ [2n, 2n + 1]<br />
Tempkin proves that <strong>on</strong> each interval [n, n+1], n ∈ Z + , L has periodic points of<br />
every possible period. Capitalizing <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> fact that iterates of piecewise linear<br />
functi<strong>on</strong>s are piecewise linear, he also shows that every eventually periodic point<br />
of L is rati<strong>on</strong>al, every rati<strong>on</strong>al is ei<strong>the</strong>r eventually periodic or divergent, and<br />
rati<strong>on</strong>als of <strong>the</strong> form k/5 with k ≢ 0 mod 5 are divergent.<br />
Tempkin also menti<strong>on</strong>s a smooth extensi<strong>on</strong> to C, namely<br />
E(x) := 7x + 2<br />
4<br />
+ 5x + 2<br />
4<br />
but c<strong>on</strong>ducts no specific analysis with it.<br />
similar extensi<strong>on</strong> to T :<br />
f(x) := x ( πx<br />
)<br />
2 cos2 + 3x + 1<br />
2 2<br />
= x + 1 4 − 2x + 1<br />
4<br />
cos(π(x + 1))<br />
<strong>Chamberland</strong>[20](1996) studies a<br />
cos(πx).<br />
( sin 2 πx<br />
)<br />
2<br />
<strong>Chamberland</strong> shows that any cycle <strong>on</strong> Z + must be locally attractive. By also<br />
showing that <strong>the</strong> Schwarzian derivative of f is negative <strong>on</strong> lR + , this implies <strong>the</strong><br />
l<strong>on</strong>g-term dynamics of almost all points coincides with <strong>the</strong> l<strong>on</strong>g-term dynamics<br />
of <strong>the</strong> critical points. One quickly finds that <strong>the</strong>re are two attracting cycles,<br />
A 1 := {1, 2}, A 2 := {1.192531907 . . ., 2.138656335 . . .}.<br />
<strong>Chamberland</strong> c<strong>on</strong>jectures that <strong>the</strong>se are <strong>the</strong> <strong>on</strong>ly two attractive cycles of f<br />
<strong>on</strong> lR + . This is equivalent to <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem. It is also shown that a<br />
m<strong>on</strong>it<strong>on</strong>ically increasing divergent orbit exists. <strong>Chamberland</strong> compactifies <strong>the</strong><br />
map via <strong>the</strong> homeomorphism σ(x) = 1/x <strong>on</strong> [µ 1 , ∞) (µ 1 is <strong>the</strong> first positive
22<br />
Figure 4: Julia set of <strong>Chamberland</strong>’s map extended to <strong>the</strong> complex plane<br />
fixed point of <strong>the</strong> map f), yielding a dynamically equivalent map h defined <strong>on</strong><br />
[0, µ 1 ] as<br />
⎧<br />
⎨<br />
h(x) =<br />
⎩<br />
4x<br />
4+x−(2+x) cos(πx) , x ∈ (0, µ 1]<br />
0, x = 0<br />
.<br />
Lastly, <strong>Chamberland</strong> makes statements regarding any general extensi<strong>on</strong> of f:<br />
it must have 3-cycle, a homoclinic orbit (snap-back repeller), and a m<strong>on</strong>ot<strong>on</strong>ically<br />
increasing divergent trajectory. To illustrate how chaos figures into this<br />
extensi<strong>on</strong>, Ken M<strong>on</strong>ks replaced x with z in <strong>Chamberland</strong>’s map and numerically<br />
generated <strong>the</strong> filled-in Julia set. A porti<strong>on</strong> of <strong>the</strong> set is indicated in Figure 4.<br />
In a more recent paper, Dum<strong>on</strong>t and Reiter[28](2003) produce similar results<br />
for <strong>the</strong> real extensi<strong>on</strong><br />
f(x) := 1 2<br />
(<br />
)<br />
3 sin2 (πx/2) x + sin 2 (πx/2) .<br />
The authors have produced several o<strong>the</strong>r extensi<strong>on</strong>s, as well as figures representing<br />
stopping times; see Dum<strong>on</strong>t and Reiter[29](2001).<br />
Borovkov and Pfeifer[15](2000) also show that any c<strong>on</strong>tinuous extensi<strong>on</strong> of T<br />
has periodic orbits of every period by arguing that <strong>the</strong> map is turbulent: <strong>the</strong>re<br />
exist compact intervals A 1 and A 2 such that A 1 ∪ A 2 = f(A 1 ) ∩ f(A 2 ).
23<br />
6.6 The Complex Plane lC<br />
Le<strong>the</strong>rman, Schleicher and Wood[50](1999) offer <strong>the</strong> next refinement of this<br />
approach: <strong>the</strong>y extend T to <strong>the</strong> complex plane with<br />
f(z) := z 2 + 1 (<br />
2 (1 − cos(πz)) z + 1 )<br />
+ 1 ( )<br />
1<br />
2 π 2 − cos(πz) sin(πz)+h(z) sin 2 (πz).<br />
Note that <strong>the</strong> first two terms (with z replaced by x) match <strong>Chamberland</strong>’s<br />
extensi<strong>on</strong>. The clear dynamic advantage of this new functi<strong>on</strong> is that <strong>the</strong> set of<br />
critical points <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> real line is exactly Z. They improve <strong>Chamberland</strong>’s result<br />
by showing that <strong>on</strong> [n, n + 1], with n ∈ Z + , <strong>the</strong>re is a Cantor set of points that<br />
diverge m<strong>on</strong>ot<strong>on</strong>ically. On <strong>the</strong> complex plane, Le<strong>the</strong>rman et al. use techniques<br />
of complex dynamics to derive results about Fatou comp<strong>on</strong>ents. In particular,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y show that no integer is in a Baker domain (domain at infinity).<br />
One<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cludes <strong>the</strong>n that any integer ei<strong>the</strong>r bel<strong>on</strong>gs to a super-attracting periodic<br />
orbit or a wandering domain.<br />
7 Generalizati<strong>on</strong>s of 3x + 1 Dynamics<br />
There have been many investigati<strong>on</strong>s of maps which have similar dynamics to<br />
T but are not extensi<strong>on</strong>s of T . Here <strong>on</strong>e is usually changing <strong>the</strong> functi<strong>on</strong>, as<br />
opposed to last secti<strong>on</strong> where <strong>the</strong> space was extended.<br />
Belaga and Mignotte[10](1998) c<strong>on</strong>sidered <strong>the</strong> “3x+d” problem, and c<strong>on</strong>jecture<br />
that for any odd d ≥ −1 and not divisible by three, all integer orbits enter<br />
a finite set (hence every orbit is eventually periodic). Note that <strong>the</strong> “3x − 1”<br />
problem is equivalent to <strong>the</strong> <strong>3x+1</strong> problem <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> negative integers, c<strong>on</strong>sidered<br />
in <strong>the</strong> previous secti<strong>on</strong>.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>An</str<strong>on</strong>g>o<strong>the</strong>r obvious generalizati<strong>on</strong> is <strong>the</strong> class of “qx + 1” problems. Steiner[72,<br />
73](1981) extended his cycle results and showed that for q = 5, <strong>the</strong>re is <strong>on</strong>ly<br />
<strong>on</strong>e n<strong>on</strong>-trivial circuit (13 → 208 → 13), while q = 7 has no n<strong>on</strong>-trivial circuits.<br />
Franco and Pomerance[32](1995) showed that if q is a Wieferich number 2 , <strong>the</strong>n<br />
some x ∈ Z + never iterates to <strong>on</strong>e. Crandall[26](1978) c<strong>on</strong>jectured that this is<br />
2 <str<strong>on</strong>g>An</str<strong>on</strong>g> odd integer q is called a Wieferich number if 2 l(q) ≡ 1 mod q 2 , where l(q) is <strong>the</strong> order
24<br />
true for any odd q ≥ 5. Wirsching[87](1998) offers a heuristic argument using<br />
p-adic averages that for q ≥ 5, <strong>the</strong> qx + 1 problem admits ei<strong>the</strong>r a divergent<br />
trajectory or infinitely-many different periodic orbits.<br />
Mignosi[55](1995) looked at a related generalizati<strong>on</strong>, namely<br />
⎧<br />
⎨ ⌈βn⌉ n ≡ 1 (mod 2)<br />
T β (n) =<br />
⎩ x<br />
2<br />
n ≡ 0 (mod 2)<br />
for any β > 1 and r ∈ lR. The case β = 3/2 is equivalent to T . Mignosi<br />
c<strong>on</strong>jectures that for any β > 1, <strong>the</strong>re are finitely many periodic orbits. This is<br />
proven for β = √ 2 and a hueristic argument is made that this c<strong>on</strong>jecture holds<br />
for almost all β ∈ (1, 2). Brocco[16](1995) modifies <strong>the</strong> map to<br />
⎧<br />
⎨ ⌈αn + r⌉ n ≡ 1 (mod 2)<br />
T α,r (n) =<br />
⎩ x<br />
2<br />
n ≡ 0 (mod 2)<br />
for 1 < α < 2. He shows for his map that <strong>the</strong> Mignosi’s c<strong>on</strong>jecture is false if <strong>the</strong><br />
interval ((r − 1)/(α − 1), r/(α − 1)) c<strong>on</strong>tains an odd integer and α is a Salem<br />
number or a PV number 3 .<br />
Mat<strong>the</strong>ws and Watts[52, 53](1984,1985) deal with multiple-branched maps<br />
of <strong>the</strong> form<br />
T (x) := m ix − r i<br />
, if x ≡ i mod d<br />
d<br />
where d ≥ 2 is an integer, m 0 , m 1 , . . . , m d−1 are n<strong>on</strong>-zero integers, and r 0 , r 1 , r d−1 ∈<br />
Z such that r i ≡ im i mod d. They mirror <strong>the</strong>ir earlier results (seen in <strong>the</strong><br />
last secti<strong>on</strong>) by extending this map to <strong>the</strong> ring of d-adic integers and show it<br />
is measure-preserving with respect to <strong>the</strong> Haar measure.<br />
Informati<strong>on</strong> about<br />
divergent trajectories may be found in Leigh[49](1986) and Buttsworth and<br />
Mat<strong>the</strong>ws[18](1990).<br />
Ergodic properties of <strong>the</strong>se maps has been studied by<br />
Venturini[80, 82, 83](1982,1992,1997). <str<strong>on</strong>g>An</str<strong>on</strong>g> encapsulating result of [83](1997)<br />
of 2 in <strong>the</strong> multiplicative group (Z/q Z).<br />
Wiefereich numbers have density <strong>on</strong>e in <strong>the</strong> odd<br />
numbers.<br />
3 A Salem number is a real algebraic number greater than 1 all of whose c<strong>on</strong>jugates z satisfy<br />
|z| ≤ 1, with at least <strong>on</strong>e c<strong>on</strong>jugate satisfying |z| = 1. A Pisot-Vijayaraghavan (PV) number<br />
is a real algebraic number greater than 1 all of whose c<strong>on</strong>jugates z satisfy |z| < 1.
25<br />
essentially claims that <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> |m 0 m 1 · · · m d−1 | < 1 gives “c<strong>on</strong>verging”<br />
behavior, while divergent orbits may occur if |m 0 m 1 · · · m d−1 | > 1. A special<br />
class of <strong>the</strong>se maps – known as Hasse functi<strong>on</strong>s, which are “closer” to <strong>the</strong> <strong>3x+1</strong><br />
map T – have been studied by Allouche[1](1979), Heppner[37](1978), Garcia<br />
and Tal[33](1999) and Möller[56](1978), with similar results. A recent survey<br />
of <strong>the</strong>se generalized mappings – with many examples – has been written by<br />
Mat<strong>the</strong>ws[54](2002).<br />
Seemingly far<strong>the</strong>r removed from <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem are results due to<br />
Stolarsky[74](1998) who completely solves a problem of “similar appearance.”<br />
First, recall Beatty’s Theorem which states that if α, β > 1 are irrati<strong>on</strong>al and<br />
satisfy 1/α + 1/β = 1, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> sets<br />
A = {⌊nα⌋ : n ∈ Z + }, B = {⌊nβ⌋ : n ∈ Z + }<br />
form a partiti<strong>on</strong> of Z + . If α = φ := (1 + √ 5)/2, we have β = φ 2 = (3 + √ 5)/2.<br />
Stolarsky c<strong>on</strong>siders <strong>the</strong> map<br />
⎧<br />
⎨ ⌈⌈ m φ<br />
⌉φ 2 ⌉ + 1, m ∈ A<br />
f(m) =<br />
2 ⎩ ⌈ m φ<br />
⌉, m ∈ B .<br />
2<br />
He proves that f admits a unique periodic orbit, namely {3, 7}. Defining b(n) =<br />
⌊nβ⌋, <strong>the</strong> set {b (k) (3) : k ∈ Z + } – which has density zero – characterizes <strong>the</strong><br />
eventually periodic points.<br />
All o<strong>the</strong>r positive integers have divergent orbits.<br />
The symbolic dynamics are simple: any trajectory has an itinerary of ei<strong>the</strong>r<br />
B l (AB) ∞ or B l (AB) k A ∞ for some integers k, l ≥ 0.<br />
8 Miscellaneous<br />
Margenstern and Matiyasevich[51](1999) have encoded <strong>the</strong> 3x + 1 problem as a<br />
logical problem using <strong>on</strong>e universal quantifier and several existential quantifiers.<br />
Specifically, <strong>the</strong>y showed that T (m) (2a) = b for some m ∈ Z + if and <strong>on</strong>ly if <strong>the</strong>re<br />
exist w, p, r, s ∈ Z + such that a, b ≤ w and<br />
⎛<br />
4(w + 1)(p + r) + 1<br />
⎝<br />
p + r<br />
⎞ ⎛<br />
⎠ ⎝ pw s<br />
⎞ ⎛<br />
⎠ ⎝ rw t<br />
⎞<br />
⎠ ×
26<br />
⎛<br />
⎝ 2w + 1<br />
w<br />
⎛<br />
⎝ p + r<br />
p<br />
⎞ ⎛<br />
⎠ ⎝<br />
⎞ ⎛<br />
⎠ ⎝<br />
2s + 2t + r + b((4w + 3)(p + r) + 1)<br />
3a + (4w + 4)(3t + 2r + s)<br />
3a + (4w + 4)(3t + 2r + s)<br />
2s + 2t + r + b((4w + 3)(p + r) + 1)<br />
⎞<br />
⎠ ×<br />
⎞<br />
⎠ ≡ 1 mod 2.<br />
Gluck and Taylor[34](2002) have studied ano<strong>the</strong>r “global statistic” besides<br />
<strong>the</strong> total stopping time functi<strong>on</strong> σ ∞ (n). If σ ∞ (a 1 ) = p under <strong>the</strong> map C, <strong>the</strong><br />
authors define a functi<strong>on</strong> 4 A as<br />
A(a 1 ) = a 1a 2 + a 2 a 3 + · · · + a p a 1<br />
a 2 1 + a2 2 + · · · + .<br />
a2 p<br />
where a 2 , a 3 , . . . , a p are <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>secutive C-iterates of a 1 . For any odd m > 3,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y show that<br />
9<br />
13 < A(m) < 5 7 .<br />
Moreover, <strong>the</strong>se bounds are sharp since<br />
( 4 n )<br />
lim A − 1<br />
n→∞ 3<br />
and<br />
= 9 13<br />
(<br />
)<br />
lim A 2 k (2 3k−1 + 1)<br />
k→∞ 3 k = 5 7 .<br />
Gluck and Taylor also produce a normalized histogram of A for values between<br />
2 20 and 2 20 +20001, and its randomized counterpart. These two histograms bear<br />
a resemblance, hinting at <strong>the</strong> stochastic/probabilistic approach to this problem.<br />
Acknowledgement: The author is grateful to Jeff Lagarias and Ken M<strong>on</strong>ks<br />
for sharing some <strong>the</strong> most recent developments <strong>on</strong> this problem, and to Ken<br />
M<strong>on</strong>ks and T<strong>on</strong>i Guillam<strong>on</strong> i Grabolosa for many helpful suggesti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
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