Encoding and Visualization in the Collatz Conjecture

Abstract

The Collatz conjecture is one of the easiest mathematical problems to state and yet it remains unsolved. For each $n\ge 2$ the Collatz iteration is mapped to a binary sequence and a corresponding unique integer which can recreate the iteration. The binary sequence is used to produce the Collatz curve, a 2-D visualization of the iteration on a grid, which, besides the aesthetics, provides a qualitative way for comparing iterations. Two variants of the curves are explored, the r-curves and on-change-turn-right curves. There is a scarcity of acyclic r-curves and only three r-curves were found having a cycle of minimum length greater than 4.