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Topic: Integer Generation (Read 772 times) |
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william wu
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Integer Generation
« on: Oct 12th, 2002, 11:07pm » |
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Here's a problem a friend gave me recently. I told him I was feeling bored, so he gave me a math problem 
Consider the following method for generating integers:
1. If I have an integer pair (x,y), I can generate (x+1,y+1).
2. If I have the pairs (x,y) and (y,z), I can make (x,z).
3. If I have (x,y) and both x and y are even, then I can make (x/2, y/2).
Given some initial integer pair (a,b), you can generate a whole bunch of other integer pairs.
Show that if you start with (7,29), you can't generate (3,1999).
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Pietro K.C.
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Re: Integer Generation
« Reply #1 on: Oct 13th, 2002, 9:41am » |
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Cool one... model theory. 
If you assume that x,y are always integers, then these rules are very similar to what can be done with modular arithmetic. You just take (x,y) to mean x = y (mod m) for some appropriate number m (not even, because of rule 3).
In this case, since 29-7 = 2*11, I set m=11. Then, starting from (7,29), I can only achieve pairs (x,y) such that 11 divides x-y. Because, in getting to (x,y), I used one of the 3 rules on a previous pair (u,v) (and possibly another, (v,w)); if u-v and u-w were divisible by 11, then
x - y = (u+1) - (v+1) = u-v,
x - y = u - w = (u-v) + (v-w),
x - y = u/2 - v/2 = (u-v)/2
are all divisible by 11.
And since 3 - 1999 = -1996 = 6 (mod 11), the pair (3,1999) can never be reached starting with (7,29).
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