The depthwise discrepancy recurrence conjecture for Collatz orbits

Let δK(n0)\delta_K(n_0) denote the total-variation discrepancy at modular depth KK for the orbit starting at odd n0n_0. Depthwise discrepancy recurrence conjecture. There exist constants λ(0,1)\lambda\in(0,1), C>0C>0, and β>1\beta>1 such that, for every odd starting value n0n_0 and every K3K\ge3,

δK+3(n0)λδK(n0)+CKβ.\delta_{K+3}(n_0)\le\lambda\,\delta_K(n_0)+C K^{-\beta}.

Such a recurrence would give a dynamical mechanism for decay of discrepancies and would imply the weak-mixing bound discussed in the paper. It remains conjectural.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Edward Y. Chang, “Exploring Collatz Dynamics with Human-LLM Collaboration”, arXiv:2603.11066 (2026).

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