Conjectura
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← problemsNT004openMathematics/ Number theory

Does every number reach one under the Collatz map?

Maintainer — open

Halve if even, triple and add one if odd. Every number tried so far eventually reaches 1. Nobody can prove they all do.

Motivation

Posed by Lothar Collatz around 1937. Verified by computer for every start below roughly 2^68.

Erdős' assessment — that mathematics is not yet ready for such problems — still holds. Terence Tao proved in 2019 that almost all orbits reach a value that is eventually small, which is the strongest general result known and still far from the statement.

Lothar Collatz, c. 1937.

Lean API
import Conjectura.Statements.Mathematics.NumberTheory.CollatzConjecture

namespace Conjectura.NT004

/-- Does the Collatz iteration reach one from every positive start? -/
def goal : Prop := Conjectura.NumberTheory.CollatzConjectureProp

end Conjectura.NT004
Definition4
Collatz conjectureConjectura.NumberTheory.CollatzConjectureProp

The Collatz conjecture: every positive integer CollatzReaches one.

def CollatzConjectureProp : Prop := ∀ n : ℕ, 0 < n → CollatzReaches n 1
CollatzReachesConjectura.NumberTheory.CollatzReaches

CollatzReaches m n holds when iterating collatzStep from m eventually gives n.

def CollatzReaches (m n : ℕ) : Prop :=
  Relation.ReflTransGen (fun a b => b = collatzStep a) m n
Collatz stepConjectura.NumberTheory.collatzStep

One Collatz step: halve an even number, or triple an odd one and add one.

def collatzStep (n : ℕ) : ℕ := if n % 2 = 0 then n / 2 else 3 * n + 1
ReflTransGenRelation.ReflTransGen

inductive

Related work1
For your AI
Download as .md
I am proving a theorem in Lean 4 and submitting it to Conjectura.

## Problem NT004 — Does every number reach one under the Collatz map?

Halve if even, triple and add one if odd. Every number tried so far eventually reaches 1. Nobody can prove they all do.

## Environment (fixed — do not assume anything newer)

- Lean toolchain: `leanprover/lean4:v4.33.0-rc1`
- Mathlib: `v4.33.0-rc1`

If a lemma you want does not exist in that Mathlib, prove it inline instead of
importing something newer.

## The exact statement I must prove

```lean
theorem solution : CollatzConjectureProp := by
  sorry
```

## The file I submit

```lean
import Conjectura.Problems.NT004.Statement

namespace Submission

theorem solution : Conjectura.NT004.goal := by
  sorry

end Submission

```

## The Lean definitions of every term in this problem

These are the actual definitions your proof will be checked against. Do not
substitute your own version of any of them.

### Collatz conjecture

The Collatz conjecture: every positive integer `CollatzReaches` one.

```lean
Conjectura.NumberTheory.CollatzConjectureProp
-- unfolds to:
def CollatzConjectureProp : Prop := ∀ n : ℕ, 0 < n → CollatzReaches n 1
```
Defined in this corpus.

### CollatzReaches

`CollatzReaches m n` holds when iterating `collatzStep` from `m` eventually gives `n`.

```lean
Conjectura.NumberTheory.CollatzReaches
-- unfolds to:
def CollatzReaches (m n : ℕ) : Prop :=
  Relation.ReflTransGen (fun a b => b = collatzStep a) m n
```
Defined in this corpus.

### Collatz step

One Collatz step: halve an even number, or triple an odd one and add one.

```lean
Conjectura.NumberTheory.collatzStep
-- unfolds to:
def collatzStep (n : ℕ) : ℕ := if n % 2 = 0 then n / 2 else 3 * n + 1
```
Defined in this corpus.

### ReflTransGen

inductive

```lean
Relation.ReflTransGen
```
Defined in Mathlib.

## Rules — submissions violating these are rejected automatically

1. **Do not change the name or type of `solution`.** It must satisfy the
   statement above exactly.
2. **Do not redefine or shadow anything from the problem's Statement module.**
   Declaring your own `goal`, or redefining a name it depends on, produces a
   proof of a *different* statement and is rejected. This is the single most
   common rejection.
3. **No `sorry`** anywhere, including in helper lemmas. It surfaces as the
   axiom `sorryAx` and is detected transitively through imports.
4. **No `native_decide`** — it surfaces as `Lean.ofReduceBool` and is not
   accepted, because it trusts compiled code rather than the kernel.
5. Only these axioms are permitted: `propext`, `Classical.choice`,
   `Quot.sound`.
6. Follow Mathlib style: hypotheses left of the colon, explicit types,
   `snake_case` theorem names, `UpperCamelCase` types.

## What I want from you

Here is my argument in informal mathematics:

> [PASTE YOUR PROOF SKETCH HERE]

Turn it into Lean 4 that compiles under the environment above and satisfies the
statement exactly. Where you are unsure a lemma exists in this Mathlib version,
say so explicitly rather than guessing a name.

Submissions are not open yet

Conjectura is in beta. You can read every statement, every definition and the Lean behind them, and download the exact files the checker uses — but proofs are not being accepted yet.

The reason is a deliberate order of operations. Accepting a proof means running a stranger’s code and standing behind a verdict, and no statement here yet carries a researcher’s name. A machine-checked answer to a question nobody has vouched for is worth very little, so the vouching comes first.

The English write-ups are also switched off during the beta. Nothing on this page is generated by a model.

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