A367366 a(n) = smallest k such that the commas sequence (cf. A121805) with initial term k contains n.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 1, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 20, 10, 2, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 30, 21, 1, 3, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 40, 31, 20, 13, 4, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 50, 41, 32, 10, 14, 60, 5, 62, 63, 64, 65, 60, 51, 42, 30, 70, 2, 15, 6, 74, 75

Offset: 1

Author

N. J. A. Sloane, Dec 05 2023

Keywords

• nonn
• base

Comments

Every k >= 1 appears in this sequence exactly A330128(k) times. So there are 2137453 1's, 194697747222394 2's, 2 3's, 209534289952018960 6's, and so on.

a(n) is the most remote ancestor of n in the comma-successor graph.

Examples

			All terms n in A121805 have a(n) = 1, all n in A139284 have a(n) = 2, all n in A366492 have a(n) = 4, and so on.
		

Links

• Michael S. Branicky, Table of n, a(n) for n = 1..10000
• Eric Angelini, Michael S. Branicky, Giovanni Resta, N. J. A. Sloane, and David W. Wilson, The Comma Sequence: A Simple Sequence With Bizarre Properties, arXiv:2401.14346, Fibonacci Quarterly 62:3 (2024), 215-232.
• Eric Angelini, Michael S. Branicky, Giovanni Resta, N. J. A. Sloane, and David W. Wilson, The Comma Sequence: A Simple Sequence With Bizarre Properties, Local copy.
• N. J. A. Sloane, Eric Angelini's Comma Sequence, Experimental Math Seminar, Rutgers Univ., January 18, 2024, Youtube video; Slides

Crossrefs

Cf. A121805, A139284, A330128, A366492, A367338, A367341, A367617.

Programs

Python

def comma_predecessor(n): # A367614(n)
    y = int(str(n)[0])
    x = (n-y)%10
    k = n - y - 10*x
    kk = k + 10*x + y-1
    return k if k > 0 and int(str(kk)[0]) != y-1 else -1
def a(n):
    an = n
    while (cp:=comma_predecessor(an)) > 0: an = cp
    return an
print([a(n) for n in range(1, 76)]) # Michael S. Branicky, Dec 18 2023