A139391 -id:A139391 - cp's OEIS frontend

A002450 a(n) = (4^n - 1)/3.

0, 1, 5, 21, 85, 341, 1365, 5461, 21845, 87381, 349525, 1398101, 5592405, 22369621, 89478485, 357913941, 1431655765, 5726623061, 22906492245, 91625968981, 366503875925, 1466015503701, 5864062014805, 23456248059221, 93824992236885, 375299968947541

Offset: 0

N. J. A. Sloane

For n > 0, a(n) is the degree (n-1) "numbral" power of 5 (see A048888 for the definition of numbral arithmetic). Example: a(3) = 21, since the numbral square of 5 is 5(*)5 = 101(*)101(base 2) = 101 OR 10100 = 10101(base 2) = 21, where the OR is taken bitwise. - John W. Layman, Dec 18 2001
a(n) is composite for all n > 2 and has factors x, (3*x + 2*(-1)^n) where x belongs to A001045. In binary the terms greater than 0 are 1, 101, 10101, 1010101, etc. - John McNamara, Jan 16 2002
Number of n X 2 binary arrays with path of adjacent 1's from upper left corner to right column. - R. H. Hardin, Mar 16 2002
The Collatz-function iteration started at a(n), for n >= 1, will end at 1 after 2*n+1 steps. - Labos Elemer, Sep 30 2002 [corrected by Wolfdieter Lang, Aug 16 2021]
Second binomial transform of A001045. - Paul Barry, Mar 28 2003
All members of sequence are also generalized octagonal numbers (A001082). - Matthew Vandermast, Apr 10 2003
Also sum of squares of divisors of 2^(n-1): a(n) = A001157(A000079(n-1)), for n > 0. - Paul Barry, Apr 11 2003
Binomial transform of A000244 (with leading zero). - Paul Barry, Apr 11 2003
Number of walks of length 2n between two vertices at distance 2 in the cycle graph C_6. For n = 2 we have for example 5 walks of length 4 from vertex A to C: ABABC, ABCBC, ABCDC, AFABC and AFEDC. - Herbert Kociemba, May 31 2004
Also number of walks of length 2n + 1 between two vertices at distance 3 in the cycle graph C_12. - Herbert Kociemba, Jul 05 2004
a(n+1) is the number of steps that are made when generating all n-step random walks that begin in a given point P on a two-dimensional square lattice. To make one step means to mark one vertex on the lattice (compare A080674). - Pawel P. Mazur (Pawel.Mazur(AT)pwr.wroc.pl), Mar 13 2005
a(n+1) is the sum of square divisors of 4^n. - Paul Barry, Oct 13 2005
a(n+1) is the decimal number generated by the binary bits in the n-th generation of the Rule 250 elementary cellular automaton. - Eric W. Weisstein, Apr 08 2006
a(k) = [M^k]2,1, where M is the 3 X 3 matrix defined as follows: M = [1, 1, 1; 1, 3, 1; 1, 1, 1]. - _Simone Severini, Jun 11 2006
a(n-1) / a(n) = percentage of wasted storage if a single image is stored as a pyramid with a each subsequent higher resolution layer containing four times as many pixels as the previous layer. n is the number of layers. - Victor Brodsky (victorbrodsky(AT)gmail.com), Jun 15 2006
k is in the sequence if and only if C(4k + 1, k) (A052203) is odd. - Paul Barry, Mar 26 2007
This sequence also gives the number of distinct 3-colorings of the odd cycle C(2*n - 1). - Keith Briggs, Jun 19 2007
All numbers of the form m*4^m + (4^m-1)/3 have the property that they are sums of two squares and also their indices are the sum of two squares. This follows from the identity m*4^m + (4^m-1)/3 = 4(4(..4(4m + 1) + 1) + 1) + 1 ..) + 1. - Artur Jasinski, Nov 12 2007
For n > 0, terms are the numbers that, in base 4, are repunits: 1_4, 11_4, 111_4, 1111_4, etc. - Artur Jasinski, Sep 30 2008
Let A be the Hessenberg matrix of order n, defined by: A[1, j] = 1, A[i, i] := 5, (i > 1), A[i, i - 1] = -1, and A[i, j] = 0 otherwise. Then, for n >= 1, a(n) = charpoly(A,1). - Milan Janjic, Jan 27 2010
This is the sequence A(0, 1; 3, 4; 2) = A(0, 1; 4, 0; 1) of the family of sequences [a, b : c, d : k] considered by G. Detlefs, and treated as A(a, b; c, d; k) in the W. Lang link given below. - Wolfdieter Lang, Oct 18 2010
6*a(n) + 1 is every second Mersenne number greater than or equal to M3, hence all Mersenne primes greater than M2 must be a 6*a(n) + 1 of this sequence. - Roderick MacPhee, Nov 01 2010
Smallest number having alternating bit sum n. Cf. A065359.
For n = 1, 2, ..., the last digit of a(n) is 1, 5, 1, 5, ... . - Washington Bomfim, Jan 21 2011
Rule 50 elementary cellular automaton generates this sequence. This sequence also appears in the second column of array in A173588. - Paul Muljadi, Jan 27 2011
Sequence found by reading the line from 0, in the direction 0, 5, ... and the line from 1, in the direction 1, 21, ..., in the square spiral whose edges are the Jacobsthal numbers A001045 and whose vertices are the numbers A000975. These parallel lines are two semi-diagonals in the spiral. - Omar E. Pol, Sep 10 2011
a(n), n >= 1, is also the inverse of 3, denoted by 3^(-1), Modd(2^(2*n - 1)). For Modd n see a comment on A203571. E.g., a(2) = 5, 3 * 5 = 15 == 1 (Modd 8), because floor(15/8) = 1 is odd and -15 == 1 (mod 8). For n = 1 note that 3 * 1 = 3 == 1 (Modd 2) because floor(3/2) = 1 and -3 == 1 (mod 2). The inverse of 3 taken Modd 2^(2*n) coincides with 3^(-1) (mod 2^(2*n)) given in A007583(n), n >= 1. - Wolfdieter Lang, Mar 12 2012
If an AVL tree has a leaf at depth n, then the tree can contain no more than a(n+1) nodes total. - Mike Rosulek, Nov 20 2012
Also, this is the Lucas sequence V(5, 4). - Bruno Berselli, Jan 10 2013
Also, for n > 0, a(n) is an odd number whose Collatz trajectory contains no odd number other than n and 1. - Jayanta Basu, Mar 24 2013
Sum_{n >= 1} 1/a(n) converges to (3*(log(4/3) - QPolyGamma[0, 1, 1/4]))/log(4) = 1.263293058100271... = A321873. - K. G. Stier, Jun 23 2014
Consider n spheres in R^n: the i-th one (i=1, ..., n) has radius r(i) = 2^(1-i) and the coordinates of its center are (0, 0, ..., 0, r(i), 0, ..., 0) where r(i) is in position i. The coordinates of the intersection point in the positive orthant of these spheres are (2/a(n), 4/a(n), 8/a(n), 16/a(n), ...). For example in R^2, circles centered at (1, 0) and (0, 1/2), and with radii 1 and 1/2, meet at (2/5, 4/5). - Jean M. Morales, May 19 2015
From Peter Bala, Oct 11 2015: (Start)
a(n) gives the values of m such that binomial(4*m + 1,m) is odd. Cf. A003714, A048716, A263132.
2*a(n) = A020988(n) gives the values of m such that binomial(4*m + 2, m) is odd.
4*a(n) = A080674(n) gives the values of m such that binomial(4*m + 4, m) is odd. (End)
Collatz Conjecture Corollary: Except for powers of 2, the Collatz iteration of any positive integer must eventually reach a(n) and hence terminate at 1. - Gregory L. Simay, May 09 2016
Number of active (ON, black) cells at stage 2^n - 1 of the two-dimensional cellular automaton defined by "Rule 598", based on the 5-celled von Neumann neighborhood. - Robert Price, May 16 2016
From Luca Mariot and Enrico Formenti, Sep 26 2016: (Start)
a(n) is also the number of coprime pairs of polynomials (f, g) over GF(2) where both f and g have degree n + 1 and nonzero constant term.
a(n) is also the number of pairs of one-dimensional binary cellular automata with linear and bipermutive local rule of neighborhood size n+1 giving rise to orthogonal Latin squares of order 2^m, where m is a multiple of n. (End)
Except for 0, 1 and 5, all terms are Brazilian repunits numbers in base 4, and so belong to A125134. For n >= 3, all these terms are composite because a(n) = {(2^n-1) * (2^n + 1)}/3 and either (2^n - 1) or (2^n + 1) is a multiple of 3. - Bernard Schott, Apr 29 2017
Given the 3 X 3 matrix A = [2, 1, 1; 1, 2, 1; 1, 1, 2] and the 3 X 3 unit matrix I_3, A^n = a(n)(A - I_3) + I_3. - Nicolas Patrois, Jul 05 2017
The binary expansion of a(n) (n >= 1) consists of n 1's alternating with n - 1 0's. Example: a(4) = 85 = 1010101_2. - Emeric Deutsch, Aug 30 2017
a(n) (n >= 1) is the viabin number of the integer partition [n, n - 1, n - 2, ..., 2, 1] (for the definition of viabin number see comment in A290253). Example: a(4) = 85 = 1010101_2; consequently, the southeast border of the Ferrers board of the corresponding integer partition is ENENENEN, where E = (1, 0), N = (0, 1); this leads to the integer partition [4, 3, 2, 1]. - Emeric Deutsch, Aug 30 2017
Numbers whose binary and Gray-code representations are both palindromes (i.e., intersection of A006995 and A281379). - Amiram Eldar, May 17 2021
Starting with n = 1 the sequence satisfies {a(n) mod 6} = repeat{1, 5, 3}. - Wolfdieter Lang, Jan 14 2022
Terms >= 5 are those q for which the multiplicative order of 2 mod q is floor(log_2(q)) + 2 (and which is 1 more than the smallest possible order for any q). - Tim Seuré, Mar 09 2024
The order of 2 modulo a(n) is 2*n for n >= 2. - Joerg Arndt, Mar 09 2024

			Apply Collatz iteration to 9: 9, 28, 14, 7, 22, 11, 34, 17, 52, 26, 13, 40, 20, 10, 5 and hence 16, 8, 4, 2, 1.
Apply Collatz iteration to 27: 27, 82, 41, 124, 62, 31, 94, 47, 142, 71, 214, 107, 322, 161, 484, 242, 121, 364, 182, 91, 274, 137, 412, 206, 103, 310, 155, 466, 233, 700, 350, 175, 526, 263, 790, 395, 1186, 593, 1780, 890, 445, 1336, 668, 334, 167, 502, 251, 754, 377, 1132, 566, 283, 850, 425, 1276, 638, 319, 958, 479, 1438, 719, 2158, 1079, 3238, 1619, 4858, 2429, 7288, 3644, 1822, 911, 2734, 1367, 4102, 2051, 6154, 3077, 9232, 4616, 2308, 1154, 577, 1732, 866, 433, 1300, 650, 325, 976, 488, 244, 122, 61, 184, 92, 46, 23, 70, 35, 106, 53, 160, 80, 40, 20, 10, 5 and hence 16, 8, 4, 2, 1. [Corrected by _Sean A. Irvine_ at the suggestion of Stephen Cornelius, Mar 04 2024]
a(5) = (4^5 - 1)/3 = 341 = 11111_4 = {(2^5 - 1) * (2^5 + 1)}/3 = 31 * 33/3 = 31 * 11. - _Bernard Schott_, Apr 29 2017

A. Fletcher, J. C. P. Miller, L. Rosenhead and L. J. Comrie, An Index of Mathematical Tables. Vols. 1 and 2, 2nd ed., Blackwell, Oxford and Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1962, Vol. 1, p. 112.
J. Riordan, Combinatorial Identities, Wiley, 1968, p. 217.
N. J. A. Sloane, A Handbook of Integer Sequences, Academic Press, 1973 (includes this sequence).
N. J. A. Sloane and Simon Plouffe, The Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, Academic Press, 1995 (includes this sequence).

T. D. Noe, Table of n, a(n) for n = 0..200
Peter Bala, A characterization of A002450, A020988 and A080674.
Henry Bottomley, Illustration of initial terms
Sung-Hyuk Cha, On Complete and Size Balanced k-ary Tree Integer Sequences, International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, Issue 2, Volume 6, 2012, pp. 67-75. - From _N. J. A. Sloane_, Dec 24 2012
Robert Coquereaux and Jean-Bernard Zuber, Counting partitions by genus. II. A compendium of results, arXiv:2305.01100 [math.CO], 2023. See p. 8.
Carlos M. da Fonseca and Anthony G. Shannon, A formal operator involving Fermatian numbers, Notes Num. Theor. Disc. Math. (2024) Vol. 30, No. 3, 491-498.
D. Dumont, Interprétations combinatoires des nombres de Genocchi, Duke Math. J., 41 (1974), 305-318. (Annotated scanned copy)
David Eppstein, Making Change in 2048, arXiv:1804.07396 [cs.DM], 2018.
C. Ernst and D. W. Sumners, The Growth of the Number of Prime Knots, Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 102, 303-315, 1987
Ernesto Estrada and José A. de la Peña, Integer sequences from walks in graphs, Notes on Number Theory and Discrete Mathematics, Vol. 19, 2013, No. 3, 78-84.
Rigoberto Flórez, Robinson A. Higuita, and Antara Mukherjee, Alternating Sums in the Hosoya Polynomial Triangle, Article 14.9.5 Journal of Integer Sequences, Vol. 17 (2014).
Enrico Formenti and Luca Mariot, Exhaustive Generation of Linear Orthogonal CA, Automata 2023, Univ. Twente (Netherlands), see p. 22 of 38.
Mattia Fregola, Elementary Cellular Automata Rule 1 generating OEIS sequence A277799, A058896, A141725, A002450
A. Frosini and S. Rinaldi, On the Sequence A079500 and Its Combinatorial Interpretations, J. Integer Seq., Vol. 9 (2006), Article 06.3.1.
Andreas M. Hinz and Paul K. Stockmeyer, Precious Metal Sequences and Sierpinski-Type Graphs, J. Integer Seq., Vol 25 (2022), Article 22.4.8.
INRIA Algorithms Project, Encyclopedia of Combinatorial Structures 373
Petro Kosobutskyy and Nataliia Nestor, On the mathematical model of the transformation of natural numbers by a function of a split type, Comp. Des. Sys. Theor. Practice (2024) Vol. 6, No. 2. See p. 7.
Petro Kosobutskyy, Anastasiia Yedyharova, and Taras Slobodzyan, From Newton's binomial and Pascal's triangle to Collatz's problem, Comp. Des. Sys., Theor. Practice (2023) Vol. 5, No. 1, 121-127.
Wolfdieter Lang, Notes on certain inhomogeneous three term recurrences.
J. V. Leyendekkers and A.G. Shannon, Modular Rings and the Integer 3, Notes on Number Theory & Discrete Mathematics, 17 (2011), 47-51.
Luca Manzoni, Luca Mariot, and Giuliamaria Menara, Combinatorial Designs and Cellular Automata: A Survey, arXiv:2503.10320 [math.CO], 2025. See pp. 16, 27.
Luca Mariot, Cryptography by Cellular Automata, 2017.
Luca Mariot, Orthogonal labelings in de Bruijn graphs, IWOCA 2020 - Open Problems Session, Delft University of Technology (Netherlands).
Luca Mariot, Connections between Latin squares, Cellular Automata and Coprime Polynomials, Univ. Twente (Netherlands, 2023). See p. 16/37.
Luca Mariot and Enrico Formenti, The number of coprime/non-coprime pairs of polynomials over F_2 with degree n and nonzero constant term.
Luca Mariot, Enrico Formenti and Alberto Leporati, Constructing Orthogonal Latin Squares from Linear Cellular Automata. In: Exploratory papers of AUTOMATA 2016.
Luca Mariot, Maximilien Gadouleau, Enrico Formenti, and Alberto Leporati, Mutually Orthogonal Latin Squares based on Cellular Automata, arXiv:1906.08249 [cs.DM], 2019.
Luca Mariot, Counting Coprime Polynomials over Finite Fields with Formal Languages and Compositions of Natural Numbers, Univ. Twente (Netherlands 2023). See p. 11.
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Index entries for linear recurrences with constant coefficients, signature (5,-4).

Partial sums of powers of 4, A000302.
When converted to binary, this gives A094028.
Subsequence of A003714.
Primitive factors: A129735.
Cf. A000225, A002446, A006995, A007583, A018215, A020988, A024036, A047849, A048716, A080355, A080674, A112627, A113860, A139391, A155701, A156605, A160967, A163834, A163868, A178415, A263132, A281379, A347834.

List([0..25], n -> (4^n-1)/3); # Muniru A Asiru, Feb 18 2018

a002450 = (`div` 3) . a024036
a002450_list = iterate ((+ 1) . (* 4)) 0
-- Reinhard Zumkeller, Oct 03 2012

[ (4^n-1)/3: n in [0..25] ]; // Klaus Brockhaus, Oct 28 2008

[n le 2 select n-1 else 5*Self(n-1)-4*Self(n-2): n in [1..70]]; // Vincenzo Librandi, Jun 13 2015

[seq((4^n-1)/3,n=0..40)];
A002450:=1/(4*z-1)/(z-1); # Simon Plouffe in his 1992 dissertation, dropping the initial zero

Table[(4^n - 1)/3, {n, 0, 127}] (* Vladimir Joseph Stephan Orlovsky, Sep 29 2008 *)
LinearRecurrence[{5, -4}, {0, 1}, 30] (* Harvey P. Dale, Jun 23 2013 *)

makelist((4^n-1)/3, n, 0, 30); /* Martin Ettl, Nov 05 2012 */

PARI
```
a(n) = (4^n-1)/3;
```

my(z='z+O('z^40)); Vec(z/((1-z)*(1-4*z))) \\ Altug Alkan, Oct 11 2015

def A002450(n): return ((1<<(n<<1))-1)//3 # Chai Wah Wu, Jan 29 2023

((List.fill(20)(4: BigInt)).scanLeft(1: BigInt)( * )).scanLeft(0: BigInt)( + ) // Alonso del Arte, Sep 17 2019

From Wolfdieter Lang, Apr 24 2001: (Start)
a(n+1) = Sum_{m = 0..n} A060921(n, m).
G.f.: x/((1-x)*(1-4*x)). (End)
a(n) = Sum_{k = 0..n-1} 4^k; a(n) = A001045(2*n). - Paul Barry, Mar 17 2003
E.g.f.: (exp(4*x) - exp(x))/3. - Paul Barry, Mar 28 2003
a(n) = (A007583(n) - 1)/2. - N. J. A. Sloane, May 16 2003
a(n) = A000975(2*n)/2. - N. J. A. Sloane, Sep 13 2003
a(n) = A084160(n)/2. - N. J. A. Sloane, Sep 13 2003
a(n+1) = 4*a(n) + 1, with a(0) = 0. - Philippe Deléham, Feb 25 2004
a(n) = Sum_{i = 0..n-1} C(2*n - 1 - i, i)*2^i. - Mario Catalani (mario.catalani(AT)unito.it), Jul 23 2004
a(n+1) = Sum_{k = 0..n} binomial(n+1, k+1)*3^k. - Paul Barry, Aug 20 2004
a(n) = center term in M^n * [1 0 0], where M is the 3 X 3 matrix [1 1 1 / 1 3 1 / 1 1 1]. M^n * [1 0 0] = [A007583(n-1) a(n) A007583(n-1)]. E.g., a(4) = 85 since M^4 * [1 0 0] = [43 85 43] = [A007583(3) a(4) A007583(3)]. - Gary W. Adamson, Dec 18 2004
a(n) = Sum_{k = 0..n, j = 0..n} C(n, j)*C(j, k)*A001045(j - k). - Paul Barry, Feb 15 2005
a(n) = Sum_{k = 0..n} C(n, k)*A001045(n-k)*2^k = Sum_{k = 0..n} C(n, k)*A001045(k)*2^(n-k). - Paul Barry, Apr 22 2005
a(n) = A125118(n, 3) for n > 2. - Reinhard Zumkeller, Nov 21 2006
a(n) = Sum_{k = 0..n} 2^(n - k)*A128908(n, k), n >= 1. - Philippe Deléham, Oct 19 2008
a(n) = Sum_{k = 0..n} A106566(n, k)*A100335(k). - Philippe Deléham, Oct 30 2008
If we define f(m, j, x) = Sum_{k = j..m} binomial(m, k)*stirling2(k, j)*x^(m - k) then a(n-1) = f(2*n, 4, -2), n >= 2. - Milan Janjic, Apr 26 2009
a(n) = A014551(n) * A001045(n). - R. J. Mathar, Jul 08 2009
a(n) = 4*a(n-1) + a(n-2) - 4*a(n-3) = 5*a(n-1) - 4*a(n-2), a(0) = 0, a(1) = 1, a(2) = 5. - Wolfdieter Lang, Oct 18 2010
a(0) = 0, a(n+1) = a(n) + 2^(2*n). - Washington Bomfim, Jan 21 2011
A036555(a(n)) = 2*n. - Reinhard Zumkeller, Jan 28 2011
a(n) = Sum_{k = 1..floor((n+2)/3)} C(2*n + 1, n + 2 - 3*k). - Mircea Merca, Jun 25 2011
a(n) = Sum_{i = 1..n} binomial(2*n + 1, 2*i)/3. - Wesley Ivan Hurt, Mar 14 2015
a(n+1) = 2^(2*n) + a(n), a(0) = 0. - Ben Paul Thurston, Dec 27 2015
a(k*n)/a(n) = 1 + 4^n + ... + 4^((k-1)*n). - Gregory L. Simay, Jun 09 2016
Dirichlet g.f.: (PolyLog(s, 4) - zeta(s))/3. - Ilya Gutkovskiy, Jun 26 2016
A000120(a(n)) = n. - André Dalwigk, Mar 26 2018
a(m) divides a(m*n), in particular: a(2*n) == 0 (mod 5), a(3*n) == 0 (mod 3*7), a(5*n) == 0 (mod 11*31), etc. - M. F. Hasler, Oct 19 2018
a(n) = 4^(n-1) + a(n-1). - Bob Selcoe, Jan 01 2020
a(n) = A178415(1, n) = A347834(1, n-1), arrays, for n >= 1.  - Wolfdieter Lang, Nov 29 2021
a(n) = A000225(2*n)/3. - John Keith, Jan 22 2022
a(n) = A080674(n) + 1 = A047849(n) - 1 = A163834(n) - 2 = A155701(n) - 3 = A163868(n) - 4 = A156605(n) - 7. - Ray Chandler, Jun 16 2023
From Peter Bala, Jul 23 2025: (Start)
The following are examples of telescoping products. Cf. A016153:
Product_{k = 1..2*n} 1 + 2^k/a(k+1) = a(n+1)/A007583(n) = (4^(n+1) - 1)/(2*4^n + 1).
Hence, Product_{k >= 1} 1 + 2^k/a(k+1) = 2.
Product_{k >= 1} 1 - 2^k/a(k+1) = 2/5, since 1 - 2^n/a(n+1) = b(n)/b(n-1), where b(n) = 2 - 3/(1 - 2^(n+1)).
Product_{k >= 1} 1 + (-2)^k/a(k+1) = 2/3, since 1 + (-2)^n/a(n+1) = c(n)/c(n-1), where c(n) = 2 - 1/(1 + (-2)^(n+1)).
Product_{k >= 1} 1 - (-2)^k/a(k+1) = 6/5, since 1 - (-2)^n/a(n+1) = d(n)/d(n-1), where d(n) = 2 - 1/(1 - (-2)^(n+1)). (End)

A016825 Positive integers congruent to 2 (mod 4): a(n) = 4*n+2, for n >= 0.

Original entry on oeis.org

2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, 30, 34, 38, 42, 46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 70, 74, 78, 82, 86, 90, 94, 98, 102, 106, 110, 114, 118, 122, 126, 130, 134, 138, 142, 146, 150, 154, 158, 162, 166, 170, 174, 178, 182, 186, 190, 194, 198, 202, 206, 210, 214, 218, 222, 226, 230, 234

Offset: 0

N. J. A. Sloane

Twice the odd numbers, also called singly even numbers.
Numbers having equal numbers of odd and even divisors: A001227(a(n)) = A000005(2*a(n)). - Reinhard Zumkeller, Dec 28 2003
Continued fraction for coth(1/2) = (e+1)/(e-1). The continued fraction for tanh(1/2) = (e-1)/(e+1) would be a(0) = 0, a(n) = A016825(n-1), n >= 1.
No solutions to a(n) = b^2 - c^2. - Henry Bottomley, Jan 13 2001
Sequence gives m such that 8 is the largest power of 2 dividing A003629(k)^m-1 for any k. - Benoit Cloitre, Apr 05 2002
k such that Sum_{d|k} (-1)^d = A048272(k) = 0. - Benoit Cloitre, Apr 15 2002
Also k such that Sum_{d|k} phi(d)*mu(k/d) = A007431(k) = 0. - Benoit Cloitre, Apr 15 2002
Also k such that Sum_{d|k} (d/A000005(d))*mu(k/d) = 0, k such that Sum_{d|k}(A000005(d)/d)*mu(k/d) = 0. - Benoit Cloitre, Apr 19 2002
Solutions to phi(x) = phi(x/2); primorial numbers are here. - Labos Elemer, Dec 16 2002
Together with 1, numbers that are not the leg of a primitive Pythagorean triangle. - Lekraj Beedassy, Nov 25 2003
For n > 0: complement of A107750 and A023416(a(n)-1) = A023416(a(n)) <> A023416(a(n)+1). - Reinhard Zumkeller, May 23 2005
Also the minimal value of Sum_{i=1..n+2} (p(i) - p(i+1))^2, where p(n+3) = p(1), as p ranges over all permutations of {1,2,...,n+2} (see the Mihai reference). Example: a(2)=10 because the values of the sum for the permutations of {1,2,3,4} are 10 (8 times), 12 (8 times) and 18 (8 times). - Emeric Deutsch, Jul 30 2005
Except for a(n)=2, numbers having 4 as an anti-divisor. - Alexandre Wajnberg, Oct 02 2005
A139391(a(n)) = A006370(a(n)) = A005408(n). - Reinhard Zumkeller, Apr 17 2008
Also a(n) = (n-1) + n + (n+1) + (n+2), so a(n) and -a(n) are all the integers that are sums of four consecutive integers. - Rick L. Shepherd, Mar 21 2009
The denominator in Pi/8 = 1/2 - 1/6 + 1/10 - 1/14 + 1/18 - 1/22 + .... - Mohammad K. Azarian, Oct 13 2011
This sequence gives the positive zeros of i^x + 1 = 0, x real, where i^x = exp(i*x*Pi/2). - Ilya Gutkovskiy, Aug 08 2015
Numbers k such that Sum_{j=1..k} j^3 is not a multiple of k. - Chai Wah Wu, Aug 23 2017
Numbers k such that Lucas(k) is a multiple of 3. - Bruno Berselli, Oct 17 2017
Also numbers k such that t^k == -1 (mod 5), where t is a term of A047221. - Bruno Berselli, Dec 28 2017
The even numbers form a ring, and these are the primes in that ring. Note that unique factorization into primes does not hold, since 60 = 2*30 = 6*10. - N. J. A. Sloane, Nov 11 2019
Also numbers ending with 10 in base 2. - John Keith, May 09 2022

			0.4621171572600097585023184... = 0 + 1/(2 + 1/(6 + 1/(10 + 1/(14 + ...)))), i.e., c.f. for tanh(1/2).
2.1639534137386528487700040... = 2 + 1/(6 + 1/(10 + 1/(14 + 1/(18 + ...)))), i.e., c.f. for coth(1/2).

H. Bass, Mathematics, Mathematicians and Mathematics Education, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. (N.S.) 42 (2004), no. 4, 417-430.
Arthur Beiser, Concepts of Modern Physics, 2nd Ed., McGraw-Hill, 1973.
J. R. Goldman, The Queen of Mathematics, 1998, p. 70.
Granino A. Korn and Theresa M. Korn, Mathematical Handbook for Scientists and Engineers, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York (1968).
James J. Tattersall, Elementary Number Theory in Nine Chapters, Cambridge University Press, 1999, pages 262, 278.

Harry J. Smith, Table of n, a(n) for n = 0..20000
Tanya Khovanova, Recursive Sequences
D. H. Lehmer, Continued fractions containing arithmetic progressions, Scripta Mathematica, 29 (1973): 17-24. [Annotated copy of offprint]
I. Lukovits and D. Janezic, Enumeration of conjugated circuits in nanotubes, J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci. 44 (2004), 410-414.
Vasile Mihai and Michael Woltermann, Problem 10725: The Smoothest and Roughest Permutations, Amer. Math. Monthly, 108 (March 2001), pp. 272-273.
Paolo Emilio Ricci, Complex Spirals and Pseudo-Chebyshev Polynomials of Fractional Degree, Symmetry (2018) Vol. 10, No. 12, 671.
William A. Stein, The modular forms database
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Bishop Graph
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Maximal Clique
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Singly Even Number
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Square Number
G. Xiao, Contfrac
Index entries for continued fractions for constants
Index entries for linear recurrences with constant coefficients, signature (2,-1).

Cf. A107687, A154739, A285871.
First differences of A001105.
Cf. A160327 (decimal expansion).
Subsequence of A042963.
Essentially the complement of A042965.

Flat(List([0..70], n->4*n+2)); # Stefano Spezia, Jun 17 2019

a016825 = (+ 2) . (* 4)
a016825_list = [2, 6 ..]  -- Reinhard Zumkeller, Feb 14 2012

Magma
```
[4*n+2 : n in [0..70]];
```

a := n -> 4*n+2: seq(a(n), n = 0 .. 70); # Stefano Spezia, Jun 17 2019

Range[2, 280, 4] (* Vladimir Joseph Stephan Orlovsky, May 26 2011 *)
4*Range[0, 70] +2 (* Eric W. Weisstein, Dec 01 2017 *)
LinearRecurrence[{2, -1}, {2, 6}, 70] (* Eric W. Weisstein, Dec 01 2017 *)
CoefficientList[Series[2*(1+x)/(1-x)^2, {x,0,70}], x] (* Eric W. Weisstein, Dec 01 2017 *)
NestList[#+4&,2,60] (* Harvey P. Dale, Apr 08 2022 *)

PARI
```
a(n)= 4*n+2
```

contfrac(tanh(1/2)) \\ To illustrate the 3rd comment. - Harry J. Smith, May 09 2009 [Edited by M. F. Hasler, Mar 09 2020]

[4*n+2 for n in (0..70)] # G. C. Greubel, Jun 28 2019

a(n) = 4*n + 2, for n >= 0.
a(n) = 2*A005408(n). - Lekraj Beedassy, Nov 28 2003
a(n) = A118413(n+1,2) for n>1. - Reinhard Zumkeller, Apr 27 2006
From Michael Somos, Apr 11 2007: (Start)
G.f.: 2*(1+x)/(1-x)^2.
E.g.f.: 2*(1+2*x)*exp(x).
a(n) = a(n-1) + 4.
a(-1-n) = -a(n). (End)
a(n) = 8*n - a(n-1) for n > 0, a(0)=2. - Vincenzo Librandi, Nov 20 2010
From Reinhard Zumkeller, Jun 11 2012, Jun 30 2012 and Jul 20 2012: (Start)
A080736(a(n)) = 0.
A007814(a(n)) = 1;
A037227(a(n)) = 3.
A214546(a(n)) = 0. (End)
a(n) = T(n+2) - T(n-2) where T(n) = n*(n+1)/2 = A000217(n). In general, if M(k,n) = 2*k*n + k, then M(k,n) = T(n+k) - T(n-k). - Charlie Marion, Feb 24 2020
From Amiram Eldar, Nov 22 2024: (Start)
Product_{n>=1} (1 - (-1)^n/a(n)) = 1/sqrt(2-sqrt(2)) (A285871).
Product_{n>=1} (1 + (-1)^n/a(n)) = sqrt(1-1/sqrt(2)) (A154739). (End)

A006370 The Collatz or 3x+1 map: a(n) = n/2 if n is even, 3n + 1 if n is odd.

Original entry on oeis.org

0, 4, 1, 10, 2, 16, 3, 22, 4, 28, 5, 34, 6, 40, 7, 46, 8, 52, 9, 58, 10, 64, 11, 70, 12, 76, 13, 82, 14, 88, 15, 94, 16, 100, 17, 106, 18, 112, 19, 118, 20, 124, 21, 130, 22, 136, 23, 142, 24, 148, 25, 154, 26, 160, 27, 166, 28, 172, 29, 178, 30, 184, 31, 190, 32, 196, 33

Offset: 0

N. J. A. Sloane

The 3x+1 or Collatz problem is as follows: start with any number n. If n is even, divide it by 2, otherwise multiply it by 3 and add 1. Do we always reach 1? This is an unsolved problem. It is conjectured that the answer is yes.
The Krasikov-Lagarias paper shows that at least N^0.84 of the positive numbers < N fall into the 4-2-1 cycle of the 3x+1 problem. This is far short of what we think is true, that all positive numbers fall into this cycle, but it is a step. - Richard C. Schroeppel, May 01 2002
Also A001477 and A016957 interleaved. - Omar E. Pol, Jan 16 2014, updated Nov 07 2017
a(n) is the image of a(2*n) under the 3*x+1 map. - L. Edson Jeffery, Aug 17 2014
The positions of powers of 2 in this sequence are given in A160967. - Federico Provvedi, Oct 06 2021
If displayed as a rectangular array with six columns, the columns are A008585, A350521, A016777, A082286, A016789, A350522 (see example). - Omar E. Pol, Jan 03 2022

			G.f. = 4*x + x^2 + 10*x^3 + 2*x^4 + 16*x^5 + 3*x^6 + 22*x^7 + 4*x^8 + 28*x^9 + ...
From _Omar E. Pol_, Jan 03 2022: (Start)
Written as a rectangular array with six columns read by rows the sequence begins:
   0,   4,  1,  10,  2,  16;
   3,  22,  4,  28,  5,  34;
   6,  40,  7,  46,  8,  52;
   9,  58, 10,  64, 11,  70;
  12,  76, 13,  82, 14,  88;
  15,  94, 16, 100, 17, 106;
  18, 112, 19, 118, 20, 124;
  21, 130, 22, 136, 23, 142;
  24, 148, 25, 154, 26, 160;
  27, 166, 28, 172, 29, 178;
  30, 184, 31, 190, 32, 196;
...
(End)

R. K. Guy, Unsolved Problems in Number Theory, E16.
J. C. Lagarias, ed., The Ultimate Challenge: The 3x+1 Problem, Amer. Math. Soc., 2010.
N. J. A. Sloane and Simon Plouffe, The Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, Academic Press, 1995 (includes this sequence).

T. D. Noe, Table of n, a(n) for n = 0..1000
Darrell Cox, The 3n + 1 Problem: A Probabilistic Approach, Journal of Integer Sequences, Vol. 15 (2012), #12.5.2.
David Eisenbud and Brady Haran, UNCRACKABLE? The Collatz Conjecture, Numberphile Video, 2016.
I. Krasikov and J. C. Lagarias, Bounds for the 3x+1 Problem using Difference Inequalities, arXiv:math/0205002 [math.NT], 2002.
J. C. Lagarias, The 3x+1 problem and its generalizations, Amer. Math. Monthly, 92 (1985), 3-23.
J. C. Lagarias, The set of rational cycles for the 3x+1 problem, Acta Arithmetica, LVI (1990), pp. 33-53.
J. C. Lagarias, The 3x+1 Problem: An Annotated Bibliography (1963-2000), arXiv:math/0309224 [math.NT], 2003-2011.
J. C. Lagarias, The 3x+1 Problem: an annotated bibliography, II (2000-2009), arXiv:math/0608208 [math.NT], 2006-2012.
Jeffrey C. Lagarias, The 3x+1 Problem: An Overview, arXiv:2111.02635 [math.NT], 2021.
Simon Plouffe, Approximations de séries génératrices et quelques conjectures, Dissertation, Université du Québec à Montréal, 1992; arXiv:0911.4975 [math.NT], 2009.
Simon Plouffe, 1031 Generating Functions, Appendix to Thesis, Montreal, 1992.
E. Roosendaal, On the 3x+1 problem.
S. Schreiber & N. J. A. Sloane, Correspondence, 1980.
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Collatz Problem.
Wikipedia, Collatz conjecture.
Index entries for sequences related to 3x+1 (or Collatz) problem
Index entries for linear recurrences with constant coefficients, signature (0,2,0,-1).

Cf. A139391, A016945, A005408, A016825, A082286, A070165.
A006577 gives number of steps to reach 1.
Cf. A001281, A047374.
Column k=1 of A347270, n >= 1.

a006370 n | m /= 0    = 3 * n + 1
          | otherwise = n' where (n',m) = divMod n 2
-- Reinhard Zumkeller, Oct 07 2011

[(1/4)*(7*n+2-(-1)^n*(5*n+2)): n in [1..70]]; // Vincenzo Librandi, Dec 20 2016

f := n-> if n mod 2 = 0 then n/2 else 3*n+1; fi;
A006370:=(4+z+2*z**2)/(z-1)**2/(1+z)**2; # Simon Plouffe in his 1992 dissertation; uses offset 0

f[n_]:=If[EvenQ[n],n/2,3n+1];Table[f[n],{n,50}] (* Geoffrey Critzer, Jun 29 2013 *)
LinearRecurrence[{0,2,0,-1},{4,1,10,2},70] (* Harvey P. Dale, Jul 19 2016 *)

for(n=1,100,print1((1/4)*(7*n+2-(-1)^n*(5*n+2)),","))

A006370(n)=if(n%2,3*n+1,n/2) \\ Michael B. Porter, May 29 2010

def A006370(n):
    q, r = divmod(n, 2)
    return 3*n+1 if r else q # Chai Wah Wu, Jan 04 2015

G.f.: (4*x+x^2+2*x^3) / (1-x^2)^2.
a(n) = (1/4)*(7*n+2-(-1)^n*(5*n+2)). - Benoit Cloitre, May 12 2002
a(n) = ((n mod 2)*2 + 1)*n/(2 - (n mod 2)) + (n mod 2). - Reinhard Zumkeller, Sep 12 2002
a(n) = A014682(n+1) * A000034(n). - R. J. Mathar, Mar 09 2009
a(n) = a(a(2*n)) = -A001281(-n) for all n in Z. - Michael Somos, Nov 10 2016
E.g.f.: (2 + x)*sinh(x)/2 + 3*x*cosh(x). - Ilya Gutkovskiy, Dec 20 2016
From Federico Provvedi, Aug 17 2021: (Start)
Dirichlet g.f.: (1-2^(-s))*zeta(s) + (3-5*2^(-s))*zeta(s-1).
a(n) = ( a(n+2k) + a(n-2k) ) / 2, for every integer k. (End)
a(n) + a(n+1) = A047374(n+1). - Leo Ortega, Aug 22 2025

More terms from Larry Reeves (larryr(AT)acm.org), Apr 27 2001

Zero prepended and new Name from N. J. A. Sloane at the suggestion of M. F. Hasler, Nov 06 2017

A014682 The Collatz or 3x+1 function: a(n) = n/2 if n is even, otherwise (3n+1)/2.

Original entry on oeis.org

0, 2, 1, 5, 2, 8, 3, 11, 4, 14, 5, 17, 6, 20, 7, 23, 8, 26, 9, 29, 10, 32, 11, 35, 12, 38, 13, 41, 14, 44, 15, 47, 16, 50, 17, 53, 18, 56, 19, 59, 20, 62, 21, 65, 22, 68, 23, 71, 24, 74, 25, 77, 26, 80, 27, 83, 28, 86, 29, 89, 30, 92, 31, 95, 32, 98, 33, 101, 34, 104

Offset: 0

Mohammad K. Azarian

This is the function usually denoted by T(n) in the literature on the 3x+1 problem. See A006370 for further references and links.
Intertwining of sequence A016789 '2,5,8,11,... ("add 3")' and the nonnegative integers.
a(n) = log_2(A076936(n)). - Amarnath Murthy, Oct 19 2002
The average value of a(0), ..., a(n-1) is A004526(n). - Amarnath Murthy, Oct 19 2002
Partial sums are A093353. - Paul Barry, Mar 31 2008
Absolute first differences are essentially in A014681 and A103889. - R. J. Mathar, Apr 05 2008
Only terms of A016789 occur twice, at positions given by sequences A005408 (odd numbers) and A016957 (6n+4): (1,4), (3,10), (5,16), (7,22), ... - Antti Karttunen, Jul 28 2017
a(n) represents the unique congruence class modulo 2n+1 that is represented an odd number of times in any 2n+1 consecutive oblong numbers (A002378). This property relates to Jim Singh's 2018 formula, as n^2 + n is a relevant oblong number. - Peter Munn, Jan 29 2022

			a(3) = -3*(-1) - 2*1 - 1*(-1) - 0*1 + 1*(-1) + 2*1 + 3*(-1) + 4*1 + 5*(-1) + 6*1 = 5. - _Bruno Berselli_, Dec 14 2015

J. C. Lagarias, ed., The Ultimate Challenge: The 3x+1 Problem, Amer. Math. Soc., 2010.

N. J. A. Sloane (terms 0..1000) & Antti Karttunen, Table of n, a(n) for n = 0..100000
C. J. Everett, Iteration of the number-theoretic function f(2n) = n, f(2n + 1) = 3n + 2, Advances in Mathematics, Volume 25, Issue 1, July 1977, Pages 42-45.
Jeffrey C. Lagarias, The 3x+1 Problem: An Overview, arXiv:2111.02635 [math.NT], 2021.
Keenan Monks, Kenneth G. Monks, Kenneth M. Monks, and Maria Monks, Strongly sufficient sets and the distribution of arithmetic sequences in the 3x+1 graph, arXiv:1204.3904v1 [math.DS], Apr 17 2012.
R. Terras, A stopping time problem on the positive integers, Acta Arith. 30 (1976) 241-252.
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Collatz Problem
Wikipedia, Collatz conjecture
Index entries for sequences related to 3x+1 (or Collatz) problem
Index entries for linear recurrences with constant coefficients, signature (0,2,0,-1).

Cf. A002378, A004526, A076936, A139391, A016116, A126241, A060412, A060413, A006370, A070168 (iterations), A005408, A016957, A064455, A153285, A008619, A193356.
Bisections: A001477, A016789.
Cf. A093353.

a014682 n = if r > 0 then div (3 * n + 1) 2 else n'
            where (n', r) = divMod n 2
-- Reinhard Zumkeller, Oct 03 2014

[IsOdd(n) select (3*n+1)/2 else n/2: n in [0..52]]; // Vincenzo Librandi, Sep 28 2018

T:=proc(n) if n mod 2 = 0 then n/2 else (3*n+1)/2; fi; end; # N. J. A. Sloane, Jan 31 2011
A076936 := proc(n) option remember ; local apr,ifr,me,i,a ; if n <=2 then n^2 ; else apr := mul(A076936(i),i=1..n-1) ; ifr := ifactors(apr)[2] ; me := -1 ; for i from 1 to nops(ifr) do me := max(me, op(2,op(i,ifr))) ; od ; me := me+ n-(me mod n) ; a := 1 ; for i from 1 to nops(ifr) do a := a*op(1,op(i,ifr))^(me-op(2,op(i,ifr))) ; od ; if a = A076936(n-1) then me := me+n ; a := 1 ; for i from 1 to nops(ifr) do a := a*op(1,op(i,ifr))^(me-op(2,op(i,ifr))) ; od ; fi ; RETURN(a) ; fi ; end: A014682 := proc(n) log[2](A076936(n)) ; end: for n from 1 to 85 do printf("%d, ",A014682(n)) ; od ; # R. J. Mathar, Mar 20 2007

Collatz[n_?OddQ] := (3n + 1)/2; Collatz[n_?EvenQ] := n/2; Table[Collatz[n], {n, 0, 79}] (* Alonso del Arte, Apr 21 2011 *)
LinearRecurrence[{0, 2, 0, -1}, {0, 2, 1, 5}, 70] (* Jean-François Alcover, Sep 23 2017 *)
Table[If[OddQ[n], (3 n + 1) / 2, n / 2], {n, 0, 60}] (* Vincenzo Librandi, Sep 28 2018 *)

a(n)=if(n%2,3*n+1,n)/2 \\ Charles R Greathouse IV, Sep 02 2015

a(n)=if(n<2,2*n,(n^2-n-1)%(2*n+1)) \\ Jim Singh, Sep 28 2018

def a(n): return n//2 if n%2==0 else (3*n + 1)//2
print([a(n) for n in range(101)]) # Indranil Ghosh, Jul 29 2017

From Paul Barry, Mar 31 2008: (Start)
G.f.: x*(2 + x + x^2)/(1-x^2)^2.
a(n) = (4*n+1)/4 - (2*n+1)*(-1)^n/4. (End)
a(n) = -a(n-1) + a(n-2) + a(n-3) + 4. - John W. Layman
For n > 1 this is the image of n under the modified "3x+1" map (cf. A006370): n -> n/2 if n is even, n -> (3*n+1)/2 if n is odd. - Benoit Cloitre, May 12 2002
O.g.f.: x*(2+x+x^2)/((-1+x)^2*(1+x)^2). - R. J. Mathar, Apr 05 2008
a(n) = 5/4 + (1/2)*((-1)^n)*n + (3/4)*(-1)^n + n. - Alexander R. Povolotsky, Apr 05 2008
a(n) = Sum_{i=-n..2*n} i*(-1)^i. - Bruno Berselli, Dec 14 2015
a(n) = Sum_{k=0..n-1} Sum_{i=0..k} C(i,k) + (-1)^k. - Wesley Ivan Hurt, Sep 20 2017
a(n) = (n^2-n-1) mod (2*n+1) for n > 1. - Jim Singh, Sep 26 2018
The above formula can be rewritten to show a pattern: a(n) = (n*(n+1)) mod (n+(n+1)). - Peter Munn, Jan 29 2022
Binary: a(n) = (n shift left (n AND 1)) - (n shift right 1) = A109043(n) - A004526(n). - Rudi B. Stranden, Jun 15 2021
From Rudi B. Stranden, Mar 21 2022: (Start)
a(n) = A064455(n+1) - 1, relating the number ON cells in row n of cellular automaton rule 54.
a(n) = 2*n - A071045(n).
(End)
E.g.f.: (1 + x)*sinh(x)/2 + 3*x*cosh(x)/2 = ((4*x+1)*e^x + (2*x-1)*e^(-x))/4. - Rénald Simonetto, Oct 20 2022
a(n) = n*(n mod 2) + ceiling(n/2) = A193356(n) + A008619(n+1). - Jonathan Shadrach Gilbert, Mar 12 2023
a(n) = 2*a(n-2) - a(n-4) for n > 3. - Chai Wah Wu, Apr 17 2024

Edited by N. J. A. Sloane, Apr 26 2008, at the suggestion of Artur Jasinski

Edited by N. J. A. Sloane, Jan 31 2011

A016945 a(n) = 6*n+3.

Original entry on oeis.org

3, 9, 15, 21, 27, 33, 39, 45, 51, 57, 63, 69, 75, 81, 87, 93, 99, 105, 111, 117, 123, 129, 135, 141, 147, 153, 159, 165, 171, 177, 183, 189, 195, 201, 207, 213, 219, 225, 231, 237, 243, 249, 255, 261, 267, 273, 279, 285, 291, 297, 303, 309, 315, 321, 327

Offset: 0

N. J. A. Sloane

Apart from initial term(s), dimension of the space of weight 2n cuspidal newforms for Gamma_0(37).
Continued fraction expansion of tanh(1/3).
If a 2-set Y and a 3-set Z are disjoint subsets of an n-set X then a(n-4) is the number of 3-subsets of X intersecting both Y and Z. - Milan Janjic, Sep 08 2007
Leaves of the Odd Collatz-Tree: a(n) has no odd predecessors in all '3x+1' trajectories where it occurs: A139391(2*k+1) <> a(n) for all k; A082286(n)=A006370(a(n)). - Reinhard Zumkeller, Apr 17 2008
Let random variable X have a uniform distribution on the interval [0,c] where c is a positive constant. Then, for positive integer n, the coefficient of determination between X and X^n is (6n+3)/(n+2)^2, that is, A016945(n)/A000290(n+2). Note that the result is independent of c. For the derivation of this result, see the link in the Links section below. - Dennis P. Walsh, Aug 20 2013
Positions of 3 in A020639. - Zak Seidov, Apr 29 2015
a(n+2) gives the sum of 6 consecutive terms of A004442 starting with A004442(n). - Wesley Ivan Hurt, Apr 08 2016
Numbers k such that Fibonacci(k) mod 4 = 2. - Bruno Berselli, Oct 17 2017
Also numbers k such that t^k == -1 (mod 7), where t is a member of A047389. - Bruno Berselli, Dec 28 2017

Friedrich L. Bauer, Der (ungerade) Collatz-Baum, Informatik Spektrum 31 (Springer, April 2008), pp. 379-384.
Milan Janjic, Two Enumerative Functions.
Tanya Khovanova, Recursive Sequences.
Luis Manuel Rivera, Integer sequences and k-commuting permutations, arXiv preprint arXiv:1406.3081 [math.CO], 2014.
William A. Stein, Dimensions of the spaces S_k^{new}(Gamma_0(N)).
William A. Stein, The modular forms database.
Dennis P. Walsh, The correlation for a power curve on nonnegative support.
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Collatz Problem.
Index entries for sequences related to 3x+1 (or Collatz) problem.
Index entries for linear recurrences with constant coefficients, signature (2,-1).

Third row of A092260.
Cf. A004442, A008588, A010503, A016921, A016933, A016957, A016969, A019679, A115754.
Subsequence of A061641; complement of A047263; bisection of A047241.
Cf. A000225. - Loren Pearson, Jul 02 2009
Cf. A020639. - Zak Seidov, Apr 29 2015
Odd numbers in A355200.

List([0..60], n-> 3*(1+2*n)); # G. C. Greubel, Sep 18 2019

a016945 = (+ 3) . (* 6)
a016945_list = [3, 9 ..]
-- Wesley Ivan Hurt, Sep 29 2013

[6*n+3 : n in [0..60]]; // Wesley Ivan Hurt, Sep 29 2013

seq(6*n+3, n=0..60); # Dennis P. Walsh, Aug 20 2013
A016945:=n->6*n+3; # Wesley Ivan Hurt, Sep 29 2013

Range[3, 350, 6] (* Vladimir Joseph Stephan Orlovsky, May 26 2011 *)
Table[6n+3, {n, 0, 60}] (* Wesley Ivan Hurt, Sep 29 2013 *)
LinearRecurrence[{2, -1}, {3, 9}, 55] (* Ray Chandler, Jul 17 2015 *)
CoefficientList[Series[3(1+x)/(1-x)^2, {x, 0, 60}], x] (* Robert G. Wilson v, Dec 14 2016 *)

makelist(6*n+3, n, 0, 60); /* Wesley Ivan Hurt, Sep 29 2013 */

{a(n) = 6*n + 3} \\ Wesley Ivan Hurt, Sep 29 2013

x='x+O('x^60); Vec(3*(1+x)/(1-x)^2) \\ Altug Alkan, Apr 08 2016

[3*(1+2*n) for n in (0..60)] # G. C. Greubel, Sep 18 2019

a(n) = 3*(2*n + 1) = 3*A005408(n), odd multiples of 3.
A008615(a(n)) = n. - Reinhard Zumkeller, Feb 27 2008
A157176(a(n)) = A103333(n+1). - Reinhard Zumkeller, Feb 24 2009
a(n) = 12*n - a(n-1) for n>0, a(0)=3. - Vincenzo Librandi, Nov 20 2010
G.f.: 3*(1+x)/(1-x)^2. - Mario C. Enriquez, Dec 14 2016
E.g.f.: 3*(1 + 2*x)*exp(x). - G. C. Greubel, Sep 18 2019
Sum_{n>=0} (-1)^n/a(n) = Pi/12 (A019679). - Amiram Eldar, Dec 10 2021
From Amiram Eldar, Nov 22 2024: (Start)
Product_{n>=0} (1 - (-1)^n/a(n)) = sqrt(2)/2 (A010503).
Product_{n>=0} (1 + (-1)^n/a(n)) = sqrt(3/2) (A115754). (End)
a(n) = (n+2)^2 - (n-1)^2. - Alexander Yutkin, Mar 15 2025

A006667 Number of tripling steps to reach 1 from n in '3x+1' problem, or -1 if 1 is never reached.

Original entry on oeis.org

0, 0, 2, 0, 1, 2, 5, 0, 6, 1, 4, 2, 2, 5, 5, 0, 3, 6, 6, 1, 1, 4, 4, 2, 7, 2, 41, 5, 5, 5, 39, 0, 8, 3, 3, 6, 6, 6, 11, 1, 40, 1, 9, 4, 4, 4, 38, 2, 7, 7, 7, 2, 2, 41, 41, 5, 10, 5, 10, 5, 5, 39, 39, 0, 8, 8, 8, 3, 3, 3, 37, 6, 42, 6, 3, 6, 6, 11, 11, 1, 6, 40, 40, 1, 1, 9, 9, 4, 9, 4, 33, 4, 4, 38

Offset: 1

N. J. A. Sloane and Bill Gosper

A075680, which gives the values for odd n, isolates the essential behavior of this sequence. - T. D. Noe, Jun 01 2006

A033959 and A033958 give record values and where they occur. - Reinhard Zumkeller, Jan 08 2014

J.-P. Allouche and J. Shallit, Automatic Sequences, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2003, p. 204, Problem 22.
R. K. Guy, Unsolved Problems in Number Theory, E16.
N. J. A. Sloane and Simon Plouffe, The Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, Academic Press, 1995 (includes this sequence).

T. D. Noe, Table of n, a(n) for n = 1..10000
J. C. Lagarias, The 3x+1 problem and its generalizations, Amer. Math. Monthly, 92 (1985), 3-23.
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Collatz Problem.
Wikipedia, Collatz conjecture
Index entries for sequences related to 3x+1 (or Collatz) problem

Equals A078719(n)-1.

Cf. A000079, A000265, A006370, A006577, A006666 (halving steps), A092893, A127789, A139391, A209229.

a006667 = length . filter odd . takeWhile (> 2) . (iterate a006370)
a006667_list = map a006667 [1..]
-- Reinhard Zumkeller, Oct 08 2011

a:= proc(n) option remember; `if`(n<2, 0,
      `if`(n::even, a(n/2), 1+a(3*n+1)))
    end:
seq(a(n), n=1..100);  # Alois P. Heinz, Aug 08 2023

Table[Count[Differences[NestWhileList[If[EvenQ[#],#/2,3#+1]&,n,#>1&]], ?Positive], {n,100}] (* _Harvey P. Dale, Nov 14 2011 *)

for(n=2,100,s=n; t=0; while(s!=1,if(s%2==0,s=s/2,s=(3*s+1)/2; t++); if(s==1,print1(t,","); ); ))

def a(n):
    if n==1: return 0
    x=0
    while True:
        if n%2==0: n/=2
        else:
            n = 3*n + 1
            x+=1
        if n<2: break
    return x
print([a(n) for n in range(1, 101)]) # Indranil Ghosh, Apr 14 2017

a(1) = 0, a(n) = a(n/2) if n is even, a(n) = a(3n+1)+1 if n>1 is odd. The Collatz conjecture is that this defines a(n) for all n >= 1.
a(n) = A078719(n) - 1; a(A000079(n))=0; a(A062052(n))=1; a(A062053(n))=2; a(A062054(n))=3; a(A062055(n))=4; a(A062056(n))=5; a(A062057(n))=6; a(A062058(n))=7; a(A062059(n))=8; a(A062060(n))=9. - Reinhard Zumkeller, Oct 08 2011
a(n*2^k) = a(n), for all k >= 0. - L. Edson Jeffery, Aug 11 2014
a(n) = floor(log(2^A006666(n)/n)/log(3)). - Joe Slater, Aug 30 2017
a(n) = a(A085062(n)) + A007814(n+1) for n >= 2. - Alan Michael Gómez Calderón, Feb 07 2025
From  Alan Michael Gómez Calderón, Mar 31 2025: (Start)
a(n) = a(A139391(n)) + (n mod 2) for n >= 2;
a(n) = a(A139391(A000265(n))) - A209229(n) + 1 for n >= 2;
a(n) = a(A000265(A139391(n))) + (n mod 2) for n >= 2. (End)

More terms from Larry Reeves (larryr(AT)acm.org), Apr 27 2001

"Escape clause" added to definition by N. J. A. Sloane, Jun 06 2017

A075677 Reduced Collatz function R applied to the odd integers: a(n) = R(2n-1), where R(k) = (3k+1)/2^r, with r as large as possible.

Original entry on oeis.org

1, 5, 1, 11, 7, 17, 5, 23, 13, 29, 1, 35, 19, 41, 11, 47, 25, 53, 7, 59, 31, 65, 17, 71, 37, 77, 5, 83, 43, 89, 23, 95, 49, 101, 13, 107, 55, 113, 29, 119, 61, 125, 1, 131, 67, 137, 35, 143, 73, 149, 19, 155, 79, 161, 41, 167, 85, 173, 11, 179, 91, 185, 47, 191, 97, 197

Offset: 1

T. D. Noe, Sep 25 2002

The even-indexed terms a(2i+2) = 6i+5 = A016969(i), i >= 0 [Comment corrected by Bob Selcoe, Apr 06 2015]. The odd-indexed terms are the same as A067745. Note that this sequence is A016789 with all factors of 2 removed from each term. Also note that a(4i-1) = a(i). No multiple of 3 is in this sequence. See A075680 for the number of iterations of R required to yield 1.
From Bob Selcoe, Apr 06 2015: (Start)
All numbers in this sequence appear infinitely often.
From Eq. 1 and Eq. 2 in Formulas: Eq. 1 is used with 1/3 of the numbers in this sequence, Eq. 2 is used with 2/3 of the numbers.
(End)
Empirical: For arbitrary m, Sum_{n=2..A007583(m)} (a(n) - a(n-1)) = 0. - Fred Daniel Kline, Nov 23 2015
From Wolfdieter Lang, Dec 07 2021: (Start)
Only positive numbers congruent to 1 or 5 modulo 6 appear.
i) For the sequence entry with value A016921(m), for m >= 0, that is, a value from {1, 7, 13, ...}, the indices n are given by the row of array A178415(2*m+1, k), for k >= 1.
ii) For the sequence entry with value A007528(m), for m >= 1, that is, a value from {5, 11, 17, ...}, the indices n are given by the row of array A178415(2*m, k), for k >= 1.
See also the array A347834 with permuted row numbers and columns k >= 0. (End)

			a(11) = 1 because 21 is the 11th odd number and R(21) = 64/64 = 1.
From _Wolfdieter Lang_, Dec 07 2021: (Start)
i) 1 (mod 6) entry 1 = A016921(0) appears for n = A178415(1, k) = A347834(1, k-1) (the arrays), for k >= 1, that is, for {1, 5, 21, ..} = A002450.
ii) 5 (mod 6) entry 11 = A007528(2) appears for n = A178415(4, k) = A347835(3, k-1) (the arrays), for k >= 1, that is, for {7, 29, 117, ..} = A072261. (End)

Richard K. Guy, Unsolved Problems in Number Theory, 3rd Edition, Springer, 2004, Section E16, pp. 330-336.
Victor Klee and Stan Wagon, Old and new unsolved problems in plane geometry and number theory, The Mathematical Association of America, 1991, p. 225, C(2n+1) = a(n+1), n >= 0.
Jeffrey C. Lagarias, ed., The Ultimate Challenge: The 3x+1 Problem, Amer. Math. Soc., 2010; see p. 57, also (90-9), p. 306.

T. D. Noe, Table of n, a(n) for n = 1..1000
Marc Chamberland, Una actualizacio del problema 3x + 1, Butl. Soc. Catalana Mat. (18), 19-45, 2003.
Jeffrey C. Lagarias, The 3x+1 problem and its generalizations, Amer. Math. Monthly, 92 (1985), 3-23.
Fabian S. Reid, The Visual Pattern in the Collatz Conjecture and Proof of No Non-Trivial Cycles, arXiv:2105.07955 [math.GM], 2021.
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Collatz Problem.
Index entries for sequences related to 3x+1 (or Collatz) problem.

Cf. A000265, A000302, A002450, A007528, A016789, A016921, A016969, A065677, A072197, A072261, A075680, A081294, A178415, A191669, A329480, A347834.
Cf. A006370, A014682 (for non-reduced Collatz maps), A087230 (A371093), A371094.
Odd bisection of A139391.
Even bisection of A067745, which is also the odd bisection of this sequence.
After the initial 1, the second leftmost column of A256598.
Row 2 of A372283.

a075677 = a000265 . subtract 2 . (* 6) -- Reinhard Zumkeller, Jan 08 2014

f:=proc(n) local t1;
if n=1 then RETURN(1) else
t1:=3*n+1;
while t1 mod 2 = 0 do t1:=t1/2; od;
RETURN(t1); fi;
end;
# N. J. A. Sloane, Jan 21 2011

nextOddK[n_] := Module[{m=3n+1}, While[EvenQ[m], m=m/2]; m]; (* assumes odd n *) Table[nextOddK[n], {n, 1, 200, 2}]
v[x_] := IntegerExponent[x, 2]; f[x_] := (3*x + 1)/2^v[3*x + 1]; Table[f[2*n - 1], {n, 66}] (* L. Edson Jeffery, May 06 2015 *)

a(n)=n+=2*n-1;n>>valuation(n,2) \\ Charles R Greathouse IV, Jul 05 2013

from sympy import divisors
def a(n):
    return max(d for d in divisors(n) if d % 2)
print([a(6*n - 2) for n in range(1, 101)]) # Indranil Ghosh, Apr 15 2017, after formula by Reinhard Zumkeller

a(n) = A000265(6*n-2) = A000265(3*n-1). - Reinhard Zumkeller, Jan 08 2014
From Bob Selcoe, Apr 05 2015: (Start)
For all n>=1 and for every k, there exists j>=0 dependent upon n and k such that either:
Eq. 1: a(n) = (3n-1)/2^(2j+1) when k = ((4^(j+1)-1)/3) mod 2^(2j+3). Alternatively: a(n) = A016789(n-1)/A081294(j+1) when k = A002450(j+1) mod A081294(j+2). Example: n=51; k=101 == 5 mod 32, j=1. a(51) = 152/8 = 19.
  or
Eq. 2: a(n) = (3n-1)/4^j when k = (5*2^(2j+1) - 1)/3 mod 4^(j+1). Alternatively: a(n) = A016789(n-1)/A000302(j) when k = A072197(j) mod A000302(j+1). Example: n=91; k=181 == 53 mod 64, j=2. a(91) = 272/16 = 17.
(End) [Definition corrected by William S. Hilton, Jul 29 2017]
a(n) = a(n + g*2^r) - 6*g, n > -g*2^r. Examples: n=59; a(59)=11, r=5. g=-1: 11 = a(27) = 5 - (-1)*6; g=1: 11 = a(91) = 17 - 1*6; g=2: 11 = a(123) = 23 - 2*6; g=3: 11 = a(155) = 29 - 3*6; etc. - Bob Selcoe, Apr 06 2015
a(n) = a((1 + (3*n - 1)*4^(k-1))/3), k>=1 (cf. A191669). - L. Edson Jeffery, Oct 05 2015
a(n) = a(4n-1). - Bob Selcoe, Aug 03 2017
a(n) = A139391(2n-1). - Antti Karttunen, May 06 2024
Sum_{k=1..n} a(k) ~ n^2. - Amiram Eldar, Aug 26 2024
G.f.: Sum_{k>=1} ((3 + 2*(-1)^k)*x^(3*2^(k - 1) - (-2)^k/3 + 1/3) + (3 - 2*(-1)^k)*x^(2^(k - 1) - (-2)^k/3 + 1/3))/(x^(2^k) - 1)^2. - Miles Wilson, Oct 26 2024

cp's OEIS Frontend

A002450 a(n) = (4^n - 1)/3.

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A016825 Positive integers congruent to 2 (mod 4): a(n) = 4*n+2, for n >= 0.

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A006370 The Collatz or 3x+1 map: a(n) = n/2 if n is even, 3n + 1 if n is odd.

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A014682 The Collatz or 3x+1 function: a(n) = n/2 if n is even, otherwise (3n+1)/2.

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