|
A complete proof
For any positive integer n, define the operations:
F: F(n)=3n+1, n is odd, and G: G(n)=n/2, n is even.www.ddhw.com
Now define a new operation H, For n even, n=(2^k)*m, where m is odd, H(n)=G(..G(n)..)=m, and For n odd, H(n) = H(F(n)) = H(3n+1) = m, for some odd m.
Let's represent n in base 2, e.g., 43 ==> 101011.
For convenience, I will need two more functions: B(n):= the number of bits of n. e.g. B(101011)=6. W(n):= the trailing consecutive 1's in n, e.g. W(101011)=2, W(101000)=0.
1) When n is even, H(n) removes the trailing 0's from n. Clearly B(H(n)) < B(n).www.ddhw.com
2) When n is odd, there are W(n) trailing 1's in n. H(n) has the following properties: 2.1) If W(n) > 1, then B(H(n)) <= B(n), W(H(n))=W(n)-1; 2.2) If W(n)==1, then B(H(n)) < B(n). In plain English, after each operation H, the number of bits will not increase, and the number of trailing 1's decrease by 1. When the number of trailing 1's is one, the next operation H will surely reduce the number of bits.
For any positive integer n, in limited steps, the number of bits will be reduced to 1. QED.
I thank QFT for pointing out my previous error. www.ddhw.com
|
|
|