Number of stable digits of any integer tetration

Abstract

In the present paper we provide a formula that allows to compute the number of stable digits of any integer tetration base $a\in\mathbb{N}_0$. The number of stable digits, at the given height of the power tower, indicates how many of the last digits of the (generic) tetration are frozen. Our formula is exact for every tetration base which is not coprime to $10$, although a maximum gap equal to $V(a)+1$ digits (where $V(a)$ denotes the constant congruence speed of $a$) can occur, in the worst-case scenario, between the upper and lower bound. In addition, for every $a>1$ which is not a multiple of $10$, we show that $V(a)$ corresponds to the $2$-adic or $5$-adic valuation of $a-1$ or $a+1$, or even to the $5$-adic order of $a^{2}+1$, depending on the congruence class of $a$ modulo $20$.