Some considerations on the total stopping time for the Collatz problem
Abstract
Introduction/purpose: The Collatz conjecture has been considered and the stopping time needed for the recursive transformation to end has been investigated.
Methods: A statistical analysis on the stopping time has been used.
Results: The statistical approach shows that the probability of finding an infinite stopping time, that is, a violation of the Collatz conjecture, is extremely low.
Conclusion: Picking precisely one particular atom in the Universe is still more favorable, by more than 61 orders of magnitude, than encountering an infinite total stopping time.
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