Collatz Conjecture Proof

J. L. Barnett
August 21, 2017

We prove T (T ( T (n)) ) = 1 for all n( Z+ .

(3n + 1)/2 , n is odd
Let T : Z+ Z+ be given by T (n) = be given.
n/2 , n is even
We work by induction. Thus, let k N. Trivially T (1) = 1. Let us assume
T (k) = 1 is true. We therefore have two cases k + 1 is even or odd. Observe if
it is even then
lim T (T (...(T (n))) ) = 1
n | {z }
ntimes
(
3k/2 + 1/2, n is odd
. If it is odd, then T (k + 1) = . Thus
k/2 + 1/2 , n is even

lim T (k + 1) = lim T (k) = 1

k k

hence by the laws of limits; moreover, by the Principle of Induction we have

indeed proved the collatz theorem