OFFSET
1,3
COMMENTS
A075680, which gives the values for odd n, isolates the essential behavior of this sequence. - T. D. Noe, Jun 01 2006
a(n) = A078719(n) - 1; a(A000079(n))=0; a(A062052(n))=1; a(A062053(n))=2; a(A062054(n))=3; a(A062055(n))=4; a(A062056(n))=5; a(A062057(n))=6; a(A062058(n))=7; a(A062059(n))=8; a(A062060(n))=9. - Reinhard Zumkeller, Oct 08 2011
a(n*2^k) = a(n), for all k >= 0. - L. Edson Jeffery, Aug 11 2014
REFERENCES
J.-P. Allouche and J. Shallit, Automatic Sequences, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003, p. 204, Problem 22.
R. K. Guy, Unsolved Problems in Number Theory, E16.
N. J. A. Sloane and Simon Plouffe, The Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, Academic Press, 1995 (includes this sequence).
LINKS
T. D. Noe, Table of n, a(n) for n = 1..10000
J. C. Lagarias, The 3x+1 problem and its generalizations, Amer. Math. Monthly, 92 (1985), 3-23.
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Collatz Problem.
Wikipedia, Collatz conjecture
FORMULA
a(1) = 0, a(n) = a(n/2) if n is even, a(n) = a(3n+1)+1 if n>1 is odd. The Collatz conjecture is that this defines a(n) for all n >= 1.
a(n) = floor(log(2^A006666(n)/n)/log(3)). - Joe Slater, Aug 30 2017
MAPLE
a:= proc(n) option remember; `if`(n<2, 0,
`if`(n::even, a(n/2), 1+a(3*n+1)))
end:
seq(a(n), n=1..100); # Alois P. Heinz, Aug 08 2023
MATHEMATICA
Table[Count[Differences[NestWhileList[If[EvenQ[#], #/2, 3#+1]&, n, #>1&]], _?Positive], {n, 100}] (* Harvey P. Dale, Nov 14 2011 *)
PROG
(PARI) for(n=2, 100, s=n; t=0; while(s!=1, if(s%2==0, s=s/2, s=(3*s+1)/2; t++); if(s==1, print1(t, ", "); ); ))
(Haskell)
a006667 = length . filter odd . takeWhile (> 2) . (iterate a006370)
a006667_list = map a006667 [1..]
-- Reinhard Zumkeller, Oct 08 2011
(Python)
def a(n):
if n==1: return 0
x=0
while True:
if n%2==0: n/=2
else:
n = 3*n + 1
x+=1
if n<2: break
return x
print([a(n) for n in range(1, 101)]) # Indranil Ghosh, Apr 14 2017
CROSSREFS
KEYWORD
AUTHOR
EXTENSIONS
More terms from Larry Reeves (larryr(AT)acm.org), Apr 27 2001
"Escape clause" added to definition by N. J. A. Sloane, Jun 06 2017
STATUS
approved