The conjectured nonzero spectrum of the position matrix

From papers

Let MM be the position matrix of the one-shelf shuffling machine. Its eigenvalues describe the associated Markov chain on card positions; the previously established eigenvalues include 11 and 00 with the stated multiplicities. The nonzero-spectrum conjecture. The nonzero eigenvalues of MM are

122i,i=0,1,,n12.\frac{1}{2^{2i}},\qquad i=0,1,\ldots,\left\lceil\frac{n-1}{2}\right\rceil.

Numerical evidence is said to strongly suggest this form, but no proof or resolution is supplied in the text.

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Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Alexander Clay, “Guessing Strategies for Shuffling Machines”, arXiv:2507.10294 (2025).

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