ProofAtlas research case study

Starting frontierEarlier bounds: descent or sublinear countsFormalization candidateA positive fraction reaches 1 within 10.46 ln(n) steps
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Number theory · dynamical systems · formal theorem

Explicit Positive-Density Collatz Convergence in Logarithmic Time

A fixed explicit positive fraction of the integers below every sufficiently large cutoff reaches 1 within 10.46 ln n ordinary Collatz steps. The full Collatz conjecture remains open.

Scope: There are fixed explicitly defined c > 0 and X₀ such that every natural X ≥ X₀ has at least cX positive integers n < X reaching 1 within (523/50) ln n ordinary Collatz steps. The same c and X₀ also satisfy the weaker 10.48 clock.

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Explicit positive-density convergence statement mapFor one fixed explicitly defined c > 0 and X₀, every natural X ≥ X₀ has at least cX positive starts n < X that reach 1 within 10.46 ln n ordinary Collatz steps.
Exact scope: There are fixed explicitly defined c > 0 and X₀ such that every natural X ≥ X₀ has at least cX positive integers n < X reaching 1 within (523/50) ln n ordinary Collatz steps. The same c and X₀ also satisfy the weaker 10.48 clock.

Exact formal proposition

Hypotheses and conclusion

theorem positive_density (X : ℕ) (hX : cutoff ≤ X) :
    (densityConstant : ℝ) * X ≤ (countBelow (523 / 50) X : ℝ)

Result boundary

What this theorem does—and does not—establish

There are fixed explicitly defined c > 0 and X₀ such that every natural X ≥ X₀ has at least cX positive integers n < X reaching 1 within (523/50) ln n ordinary Collatz steps. The same c and X₀ also satisfy the weaker 10.48 clock.

Companion note: Positive Lower Density of Collatz Predecessors extends the discussion to fixed positive targets not divisible by 3 and gives a conditional density-one convergence criterion. It is a separate paper; this paper and its logarithmic-time result are unchanged.

ProofAtlas metadata cover for Explicit Positive-Density Collatz Convergence in Logarithmic Time by Lech Mazur, showing the 10.46 ln n ordinary-step bound and the positive lower natural density boundary.

Companion research paper

Explicit Positive-Density Collatz Convergence in Logarithmic Time

The paper gives a fixed explicit positive rational c and a fixed explicit natural-number cutoff X₀. For every natural X ≥ X₀, at least cX positive integers n < X reach 1 within 10.46 ln n ordinary Collatz steps. This establishes positive lower natural density with explicit constants; it does not resolve the full Collatz conjecture.

Author-authorized early release. This fixed paper package first appeared while independent presentation review was pending; hosting it does not mark the Lean result accepted.

Paper, rights, and source relationship

Hosting authorized by the rightsholder. Original ProofAtlas metadata cover; not a reproduced paper page or proof evidence.

Lech Mazur, “Explicit Positive-Density Collatz Convergence in Logarithmic Time,” manuscript v2.1, September 6, 2026.

  • The exact Lean endpoint counts positive n strictly below a natural X, uses natural logarithms, and counts each ordinary step separately: n/2 for even n and 3n+1 for odd n. The 10.48 bound is a weaker corollary of 10.46.
  • The linked artifact retains the successful owning-target lake --rehash build transcript, clean source provenance, no-sorry results and axiom checks of all four public roots for theorem-specific source 830b9d3f38f2a8da8cd921bf6a9310dd69336fd0. Pinned Mathlib caches were reused; no all-dependency cold rebuild, independent LeanChecker replay, smallest-possible-proof claim, or paper-wide review is asserted.
  • Manuscript v2.1 preserves the mathematical body, bibliography, authorship and AI disclosure of v2.0; its version/date and source-package links are updated. The formal source is reduced to the public-root dependency closure. Mathematical acceptance and paper presentation review are separately recorded and do not follow from packaging or a credit snapshot.
  • The density constant is extremely small and the cutoff extremely large. No practical numerical range, density-one convergence to 1, optimality, historical priority, or solution of the full Collatz conjecture is claimed.

Line counts exclude blank lines; comments and documentation count. The total is the commit-pinned first-party Lean import closure; Mathlib and other third-party dependencies are excluded.

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Open questions and extensions

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What the source ZIP contains

The ZIP contains the checked first-party Lean import closure, exact statements and boundaries, license, notice, evidence, source-footprint manifest, and continuation data. Mathlib and other third-party dependencies are not bundled.

Formal theorem publication status

Publication review

Accepted-result publication remains pending

Lean has checked the exact source; this public release is not presented as a ProofAtlas accepted result. The linked evidence page shows individual review decisions where they are publicly available. The requirements below describe publication coverage, not a count of unfinished reviews. Independent AI, human, or mixed reviewers may examine the build evidence, statement alignment, result boundary, and public wording. Review does not replace Lean's check or broaden the theorem.

Review 1

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Review 2

Statement alignment

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Review 3

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Review 4

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Source

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Final record

Accepted result

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Credit for this release

Contributors and roles

Authorship and other contributions are recorded separately for this version.

Authorship

Paper author
Lech Mazur

Contributions

  • Direct contributionOpenAI Codex

    OpenAI GPT models accessed through Codex contributed to mathematical exploration, proof development, computational testing, formalization, and exposition in the ProofAtlas.ai harness. No model version is inferred.

    • Computation
    • Exposition
    • Formalization
    • Proof strategy
  • Supporting contributionAnthropic Claude

    Anthropic Claude was used for manuscript review. This source-reported manuscript review is not a current ProofAtlas independent review gate, accepted-result review, or formal proof replay.

    • Exposition
  • Direct contributionLech Mazur

    Lech Mazur is the named paper author, directed the AI-assisted research, and is responsible for the manuscript and its claims.

    • Exposition
    • Research direction

Citation

Cite this release

Use the version-specific citation so the authorship, scope, and public record remain attached.

Release history

Versions and public record

Release
Paper release
Version
manuscript v2.1 of September 6, 2026
Published
Canonical page
Open canonical page
Earlier release
credit.release.positive-density-log-time-collatz.v002

Release chronology

This version is part of the release history. No independent external timestamp is claimed.

Scope of this release

  • Independent paper-to-formal-statement alignment and current publication review remain separate. Claude’s source-reported manuscript review grants no ProofAtlas review status.
  • Positive lower natural density of convergence within 10.46 ln n ordinary steps does not establish density-one convergence, practical cutoffs, optimality, priority, or the full Collatz conjecture.
  • The exact AI model versions are not specified in the manuscript disclosure and are not inferred.
  • The linked artifact retains the successful owning-target lake --rehash build transcript, clean source provenance, no-sorry results and axiom checks of all four public roots for theorem-specific source 830b9d3f38f2a8da8cd921bf6a9310dd69336fd0. Pinned Mathlib caches were reused; no all-dependency cold rebuild, independent LeanChecker replay, smallest-possible-proof claim, or paper-wide review is asserted.
  • The paper and infographic have hosting permission, with no general open-content license. The source archive retains its separate Apache-2.0 license and third-party notices.
  • The v2.1 mathematical manuscript body, bibliography, authorship and source-stated AI roles are unchanged; this packaging and hosting successor does not create a new scholarly contribution or event. Historical source pins are provenance, not claimed ancestry of the parentless slim repository.

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