Garner's conjecture on corresponding Collatz stems

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Let TT be the accelerated Collatz map, and let sis_i and si′s_i' be the parity vectors

si=⟨0,1,1,…,1⏟i ones,0,1⟩,s_i=\langle 0,\underbrace{1,1,\ldots,1}_{i\text{ ones}},0,1\rangle, si′=⟨1,1,1,…,1⏟i ones,0,0⟩.s_i'=\langle 1,\underbrace{1,1,\ldots,1}_{i\text{ ones}},0,0\rangle.

A pair of parity sequences ss and s′s' are corresponding stems if, for every integer xx, Ts(x)=Ts′(x+1)T_s(x)=T_{s'}(x+1), while equal-length initial subsequences v,v′v,v' satisfy ∣Tv(x)−Tv′(x+1)∣≠1|T_v(x)-T_{v'}(x+1)|\ne 1 and Tv(x)≠Tv′(x+1)T_v(x)\ne T_{v'}(x+1).

Garner's conjecture. Every pair of corresponding stems is of the form sis_i and si′s_i' for some ii; equivalently, any pair of consecutive integers of the same height has parity vectors for the non-overlapping parts of their trajectories ending in sis_i and si′s_i'.

The conjecture is intended to characterize consecutive integers with equal Collatz height through their parity vectors. The paper states that it has counterexamples, so this claim is refuted.

References

Primary source

Marcus Elia and Amanda Tucker, “Consecutive Integers and the Collatz Conjecture”, arXiv:1511.09141 (2015).

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