Bakuage Offers Prize of 120 Million JPY to Whoever Solves Collatz Conjecture, Math Problem Unsolved for 84 Years

prnewswire. com ^ | 7/7/2021 | Staff

[LibWhacker]

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Bakuage Co., Ltd. Jul 07, 2021, 03:00 ET

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TOKYO, July 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

- Highest Prize for Any Unsolved Problem in Mathematics -

Bakuage Co., Ltd. headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, announced on July 7, 2021, that it is offering a prize of 120 million Japanese yen (*) to anyone who has revealed the truth of the Collatz conjecture, an unsolved mathematical problem.

(*) 120 million Japanese yen is about US$1,085,000 (1US$=JPY110.50 as of June 29, 2021).

Image: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M106706/202106236656/_prw_PI1fl_dI1163aV.png

- What is Collatz conjecture?

The Collatz conjecture is one of unsolved problems in mathematics. It is a conjecture that repeatedly applying the following sequences will eventually result in 1: starting with any positive integer, divide it by 2 in the case of an even number and multiply it by 3 and add 1 in the case of any odd number. The conjecture is named after Lothar Collatz, who introduced the idea in 1937. Since then, it has remained unsolved with its truth not yet verified.

Background of prize

Prize money is sometimes offered on an unsolved problem in mathematics. For example, a prize of $1 million was posted for the solution to each of seven unsolved millennium problems announced by the Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000. Bakuage decided on the latest prize, hoping to contribute to the development of mathematics. The company has chosen the Collatz conjecture because it thought many people can be easily interested in the problem, which itself is easy to understand.

Prize rules

A prize of 120 million Japanese yen will be paid to whoever has elucidated the truth of the Collatz conjecture. For details, please visit the following prize site. Prize site: https://mathprize.net/posts/collatz-conjecture/

Other notes

*Corporate and product names contained here are their respective trademarks or registered trademarks.

*If the contents of this press release and the abovementioned prize rules do not agree with each other, the prize rules mentioned on the prize site shall take precedence.

URL: https://bakuage.com/en/about

SOURCE Bakuage Co., Ltd.

Related Links https://bakuage.com/en/about

[Hot Tabasco]

Since then, it has remained unsolved with its truth not yet verified.

I suspect there is no answer and there is no unsolved problem.

So who actually has the answer or is there really an answer?

[faithhopecharity]

the answer is 42.

where’s my $$$?

[Nailbiter]

flr

[cgbg]

Find a black person and declare they solved it.

Anyone who objects is a racist.

I win!

[NachOsten]

One of the comments

"This must be the formula that banks use, to calculate fees, that reduce my account to 1."
LOL

[GunHoardingCapitalist]

The answer is Wm. Wm is equal too or greater than negative infinity.

I will take my money please.

[Political Junkie Too]

For odd, multiply it by 3 and add 1.

Here is the graphic that didn't come through on the posted article:

-PJ

[Fractal Trader]

More here:

The Simplest Math Problem No One Can Solve - Collatz Conjecture

[SamAdams76]

I don't understand why it's necessary to multiply odd numbers by three before adding the one to make it even.

By simply adding a one every time you divide by half to get an odd number, you will get down to the number 1 all the faster.

[lepton]

Then you go back and read what it says, and compare to what you wrote. :)

[EEGator]

I would, but I’m busy solving the Riemann Hypothesis.

[LibWhacker]

I don't understand why it's necessary to multiply odd numbers by three before adding the one to make it even.

I can only speculate that Collatz himself knew it was true, or proved it was true, in that case.

But when he looked at multiplying by three, he couldn't prove it.

[LibWhacker]

So who actually has the answer or is there really an answer?

A proof would provide the answer. That's what all these number theorists have been working on for the last eighty years.

[jpsb]

Any even number can by divided by 2 repeatedly until one gets a a 1 (2/2). Multiplying an odd number by an odd number gives you an (wait for it) odd number! Adding one to an odd number makes it an even number.

[Political Junkie Too]

The path to the answer seems obvious to me.

Once an even number that is a power of 2 is reached, it will divide down to 1.

So the question is whether or not there is an odd number that will never iterate to a power of 2?

Did I win?

-PJ

[takebackaustin]

Try using Proof By Induction.

[Svartalfiar]

Any even number can by divided by 2 repeatedly until one gets a a 1 (2/2).

What about 6? 10? 14? 18?

[Jim W N]

Interesting.

Seems similar to chess - although it appears there is some kind of ultimate “solution, there is none apparent, because a smarter chess player (a computer) can always beat the less smart chess player (a less smart computer) - ad infinitum.

[Svartalfiar]

But I still don’t get what the issue is here.

You will always end up at 1 because of math, and it is true because it’s math.

But will you actually? That's the point - we're pretty sure that is correct, but there isn't an actual proof that proves that it's correct. Just because a bunch of big numbers follow the pattern, doesn't mean the pattern is always going to be correct. It just looks like it will be.

[metmom]

OK, that makes more sense.

Thanks.