This man is a legend. I could listen to him talk about numbers forever
@shadowrottweiler5 жыл бұрын
Definitely an enjoyable video!
@neissy4 жыл бұрын
You mean professor Farnsworth???
@sillysausage45494 жыл бұрын
You mean guy who spouts the same boring sequence stuff all the time, all in a comedy accent?
@lawrencedoliveiro91043 жыл бұрын
By “forever”, do you mean ℵ₀ seconds or something greater, like, say, ℵ₁ seconds?
@Triantalex Жыл бұрын
false.
@gazorpalse51735 жыл бұрын
Ok, so after digging a little bit in the sequence, I wanted to share a bit of what I’ve found. I started having in mind to stop when the numbers from 1 to 10 would have appeared but it took me a bit longer than I thought. I finally got a bit further and got the first 252 numbers of the sequence. (I’ve done this on paper, no programming, so it’s possible I failed it at some point) Here are the 56 numbers that appeared in order : 0, 1, 2, 6, 5, 4, 3, 9, 14, 15, 17, 11, 8, 42, 20, 32, 18, 7, 31, 33, 56, 19, 37, 46, 23, 21, 25, 52, 13, 62, 40, 36, 16, 27, 10, 92, 51, 131, 39, 12, 44, 34, 97, 72, 41, 78, 24, 105, 107, 167, 61, 26, 22, 127, 28 and 29. One thing that I found funny with this sequence is that is has the tendency to quickly come back to a number that newly appeared. For exemple when the 9 shows up for the first time, it takes only 3 steps to appear again. Same for 7 and 31. 5, 6, 18 are taking 5 steps to appear a 2nd time, 107 takes 28 steps, etc. But it doesn’t happen for every number, like for 14 that takes 131 steps to appear a 2nd time, but takes 4 steps to appear a 3rd time. ^^ 17 didn’t appear a second time for me even though it comes pretty early in the sequence. It’s hard to find coherence in there but it’s strange to see more often that not new numbers reappearing pretty quickly even though there are still lot of numbers that haven’t appeared yet. The second thing that surprise me a bit is the frequency of new numbers appearing, only takes about 4,5 steps (the longest chain of numbers between two 0s I’ve found is 8 numbers long (found it 2 times)) Thought it would take a bit longer but it’s pretty rare that a new number takes more than 6 steps to appear. But like I said, I only checked the 250 first numbers so I don’t know if it grows up, shrinks or stay pretty much the same if you go further and further. I usually don’t really dig into that kind of stuff, mostly I listen to the video and continue my way elsewhere, but this time my curiosity hasn’t been fulfilled enough, so here I am writing this :p It was worth the try. Thanks Numberphile o/
@alexismandelias5 жыл бұрын
Brady: what do we know about this sequence? Neil Sloane: nothing. Brady: great! Let's make a video about it!
@anawesomepet3 жыл бұрын
We know how to make it.
@official-obama2 жыл бұрын
Truttle1: what do we know about this programming language? ais523: nothing. Truttle1: great! Let's make a video about it!
@Yungmansgift215 Жыл бұрын
@@anawesomepet But why outside of realizing it, (the sequence) do we need or use it?
@Triantalex Жыл бұрын
??
@quantumboss500yearsago26 ай бұрын
@@official-obamaQuite rare finding a esolang enjoyer on random place
@DrMcCoy5 жыл бұрын
"Boy, that's a really great sequence!"
@geekjokes84585 жыл бұрын
_better do math to it before anyone else_
@metallsnubben5 жыл бұрын
that's a really great sequence you got there! be a shame if someone... *did* *math* *to* *it*
@mr.jellypie56375 жыл бұрын
I know it is
@happypiano48103 жыл бұрын
666 likes.
@namethe____7214 Жыл бұрын
I saw this right when he said it
@robmckennie42035 жыл бұрын
"boy, that's a really great sequence" my favourite kind of person
@Triantalex Жыл бұрын
??
@hamfeldt935 жыл бұрын
- Did you do anything fun this weekend? - Yeah - Yeah? What? - 5:42
@aidanhamilton5 жыл бұрын
Man that's some clever stuff
@monstah17045 жыл бұрын
Amazing
@kim157425 жыл бұрын
Don't get it :/
@tmfan38885 жыл бұрын
@@kim15742 same
@nbvehbectw56405 жыл бұрын
Kim, "X to Z" sounds like "ecstasy".
@tylerowens5 жыл бұрын
One thing that can be proven about the sequence is that VE(n) < n for n > 0 (since the entire sequence has length n+1, the most number of moves back it could take is n, but VE(0)=0 and VE(1)=0, so you'll never go all the way back to VE(0) and thus VE(n) < n). So yeah, f(n) = n seems like a fairly good approximation of the growth of the sequence, but it is also an absolute upper bound on the sequence.
@GravelLeft5 жыл бұрын
I just realized that adding 0 as the next term when there's a number you haven't seen before, isn't as arbitrary as I first thought: It's really just in agreement with the rule of writing down "how far back it occurred last time". When it's never occurred before, the last time it occurred was _right now,_ zero steps ago, so we add a zero. Awesome :D
@chrisg30305 жыл бұрын
Nice logic isn't it? Does it mean that the sequence can only start with 0 and no other number? Also the rule seems to mean that 0 can only occur twice in succession at the beginning of the sequence or immediately after the first number n if n is allowed to be non-0.
@GravelLeft5 жыл бұрын
@@chrisg3030 I don't see any reason you couldn't start with something else than 0. Then the sequence will be different depending on which number we start with. A funny thought: Since we don't know whether every number will eventually appear, let's say that m is a number that never appears in the sequence. Then if you start with m, only then will you get the same sequence as the one where you just start with 0 :D
@chrisg30305 жыл бұрын
Similarly there's no reason why you couldn't add something else, say 2, when there's a number you haven't seen before. So 0 2 2 1 2 2 1 3 2 3 2 2 1 6 ... The original rule says "Add n when the number last occurred n places back", so when it's new - that is last occurred 0 places back - you add 0. With my variant it's the same but with the exception of 0 places back, in which case you add 2 but still use 2 for 2 places back as well. We still seem to get the same kind of sequence though (except in the case of 1, if we add 1 for new as well as 1 place back we just get endless 1's). Please check.
@HuskyNET4 жыл бұрын
I immediately want to extend this to the negative and imaginary numbers
@Xonatron4 жыл бұрын
This needs more up votes.
@colinstu5 жыл бұрын
2:58 now that's some genuine enthusiasm, love it.
@Lyle-xc9pg5 жыл бұрын
i was just thinking the same thing and looking for a comment about that. Warms my heart that people noticed
@colinstu5 жыл бұрын
@@Lyle-xc9pg I felt tickled when he said it that way! Neil is the best
@Triantalex Жыл бұрын
??
@colinstu Жыл бұрын
@@Triantalex the “yeahhhhh… I think it’s lovely”. Really has some genuine expression to it.
@julbarrier5 жыл бұрын
"X to Z" mathematicians favourite drug
@rogerkearns80945 жыл бұрын
Not in the UK. There's not much of a market here for ecsta-zed.
@eve363685 жыл бұрын
@@rogerkearns8094 is this the reasoning behind zedd's name?
@Acalamity5 жыл бұрын
You are a better drug.
@davidgoffredo17385 жыл бұрын
cursive Z, nonetheless. That's the strong stuff.
@Euquila5 жыл бұрын
I once did x to zee and almost ended up zed
@GalaxyGal-3 жыл бұрын
Dr Sloane has such a relaxing voice and his love for sequences just radiates from him.
@AalbertTorsius5 жыл бұрын
There's extra footage, right? _Please_ tell me there's extra footage.
@__gavin__5 жыл бұрын
I know right. I was immediately checking the description for the bonus video.
@andrewolesen87735 жыл бұрын
dont know
@shoutz58725 жыл бұрын
Don't know ;)
@YsterYuki4 жыл бұрын
don't know 🤔
@whatisthis28094 жыл бұрын
dont know
@PopeGoliath5 жыл бұрын
This is my new favorite sequence. I love self-descriptive sequences.
@rewrose28385 жыл бұрын
Nice , same (they're kinda like storing information about themselves)
@EZCarnivore5 жыл бұрын
This is my new favorite sequence because it's interesting, and also because my last name is part of the name!
@chrisg30305 жыл бұрын
Reminds me of the Recaman sequence (Numberphile vid), also dependent on whether a number is new or not.
@chrisg30305 жыл бұрын
But isn't there a sense in which any sequence obeying a rule is self-referencing? Let's express the rule for the van Eck as "Add n when the current term last appears n places back". So if the current term is 1 and it last appeared 6 places back then we add 6. If the current term is 6 and it last appeared 0 places back (in other words it's never appeared before) we add 0. Now let's change that rule a tad: "Add n when the current term FIRST appears n places back". If we start with 0 we go on 0 1 0 3 0 5 0 7 0 9 0 11 ..., a both boringly regular and not apparently self referencing sequence, even though our defining rule makes sound like it should be. But in my example the first place of appearance of a term is never going to stop being just that, whereas the latest place of appearance of a van Eck term can change quite frequently. So perhaps we should talk instead of term-index variant and invariant sequences.
@PopeGoliath5 жыл бұрын
@@chrisg3030 i think the important distinction for a self-referential sequence" is when a series checks something other than the ordinality of a previous term. If you do something with the number other than use how big it is, it feels like using a meta-property of the sequence itself
@shinyeontae5 жыл бұрын
Numberphile: Don't know Me: * Gets spooked *
@alveolate5 жыл бұрын
vsauce sound
@grahamcartwright36325 жыл бұрын
funny
@lyrimetacurl05 жыл бұрын
@@alveolate Moon Men
@NStripleseven4 жыл бұрын
Has the spook
@Calypso143 Жыл бұрын
I could listen to him listing the sequence like he did in the first minute for hours
@SunayH015 жыл бұрын
Love Neil Sloane videos on Numberphile. Non convential maths at its very best.
@patrickgono60435 жыл бұрын
I love these self-referencing number sequences. Reminds me of the Kolakoski sequence.
@jovi_al5 жыл бұрын
I love it when Sloane is on the channel. His database inspired me to choose a maths major. I'm so excited for it!!
@smileyp45355 жыл бұрын
"oooh that's a really great sequince, let me analyze it before anyone else does" I'm gonna go with things only a mathematician would say for 500
@OrangeC75 жыл бұрын
Suddenly, Jeopardy.
@EtherDais5 жыл бұрын
Very farnsworth
@thehiddenninja34285 жыл бұрын
Sequence*
@MegaPremios5 жыл бұрын
This guy is so obsessed with weird series
@Lightning_Lance5 жыл бұрын
I can relate. I wanted to analyze it myself before watching the rest of the video :)
@blauw675 жыл бұрын
This is brilliant, it's so simple to think up, yet it's not been submitted before and so unpredictable. I really enjoyed this sequence.
@lawrencecalablaster5685 жыл бұрын
This is fascinating- it reminds me of John Conway's Look-&-Say Sequence.
@rewrose28385 жыл бұрын
The self describing sequence? Like 0 , 10 , 1110, 3110, ... ??
@chrisg30305 жыл бұрын
Reminds me of Recaman, self-descriptive and also depends on whether a number is new or not, except you can't use it if not.
@livedandletdie5 жыл бұрын
However this sequence gets boring if you have the 2 starting numbers be 1,1.
@konstantinkh5 жыл бұрын
@@livedandletdie The second term is a lie, and we all know that you can derive anything from a false premise. :p
@nanamacapagal83424 жыл бұрын
Or how about the roman version, it starts like this I II III IIII IVI IIIVII IIIIIVIII VIIVIIII IVIIIIVIVI IIIVIVIIVIIIVII IIIIIVIIIVIIIIVIIIIIVIII VIVIIIIIVIVIIVVIIVIIII IVIIIVVIIVIIIVIIIIIVIIIIVIVI
@Kaczankuku5 жыл бұрын
I would change the definition of Van Eck's sequence. The sequence doesn't begin from 0 necessarily. Then it is only 0-sequence but it can be N-sequence as well. Then the Van Eck's sequence family was created.
@woodfur005 жыл бұрын
That's interesting, actually. They're related-if you start the sequence at n, it will look identical to the 0 sequence up to the first instance of n in the sequence, at which point it change completely. And the first different number will be much higher than anything around it, which could affect the shape of the large-scale triangle-my wild guess says its slope wouldn't change but its height would jump up at that point. Now I want to find out.
@woodfur005 жыл бұрын
I did the graphing and I can't seem to find any patterns other than that initial outlier.
Please keep us updated on this sequence, this is fascinating.
@Jason_Kang4 жыл бұрын
Anyone here from advent of code?
@petermarsh45784 жыл бұрын
Yes! I was hoping there's be clever ways to speed up generation of the sequence haha. Seems I'll be running it for a few more hours yet!
@CLundell3 жыл бұрын
@@petermarsh4578 There is a way to speed it up. Think about how you store your generated numbers and how you look them up.
@fahrenheit21013 жыл бұрын
This one took me particularly long to work out. I can't actually remember how I managed it.
@garethdean63825 жыл бұрын
'Oh come on! How can you not know how fast it grows? Surely that's easy to prove! We just... okay maybe we.... what if....' *Three hours later* 'Alright, you win this round...'
@benjaminblack916 ай бұрын
It does feel like there is a provable lower bound using the repeating argument described in the video. But it is probably super low, logarithmic in n or something.
@joshsvoss5 жыл бұрын
I love this guys enthusiasm. Explaining a sequence with a totally unrelated poem. Love it!!
@Sam_on_YouTube5 жыл бұрын
Answer to the daily challenge problem: 4. It is a modular arithmetic question. 81 is divisible by 3 and so is 9. The other numbers each are divisible by 3 with a remainder of 1. All three of those must have either a plus or minus sign. But it must be the same sign for all three. Then thr nine can take a plus or minus and it is independent of the other one. So you have 2 independent choices with 2 options each. 2x2=4.
@nymalous34285 жыл бұрын
Sloane is so relaxing to listen to.
@robinlindgren64295 жыл бұрын
@7:06 4 ways. specifically (+,+,+,+), (+,-,+,+), (-,+,-,-) (-,-,-,-) I found this by the following logic chain: 1. 81 is already divisible by 3, therefore we only need to manipulate the pluses and minuses to preserve this property. 2. 9 is also divisible by 3, therefore it doesn't matter if it is added or subtracted, it will not change the remainder after division by 3. 3. 31, 13 and 4 are each numbers of the form 3x+1, therefore for the purposes of determining whether their sum will be divisible by 3, we need only concern ourselves with the '1' part. 4. the only way to add or subtract 3 1s to each other in any combination and end up with a number that is divisible by 3 is if either all of them are subtracted (-1-1-1=-3) or all of them are added (1+1+1=3), therefore, the first, third and fourth sign must match each other. 5. (4) combined with (2) implies that the second sign can be either plus or minus and the remaining ones must match each other but be either plus or minus and any such combination will work, this means we have 2*2=4 combinations
@zmaj123215 жыл бұрын
Brilliant question: Mod 3, the question is: 0 ( ) 1 ( ) 0 ( ) 1 ( ) 1 Where ( ) should be + or -. The maximum value of the expression is 3 and the minimum is -3, occurring when all the signs are + and - respectively (except for the sign before the 0, which can be either). This yields 2×2=4 possibilities. 0 cannot be achieved since the parity of the expression must be odd.
@filipsperl5 жыл бұрын
Would definitely like to see if there's any progress on this sequence
@noclafcz5 жыл бұрын
Don't know.
@manuc.2605 жыл бұрын
I'm going to answer on a new comment, cause I find the answer interesting by itself, to someone who remarked that if the sequence started with 1,1,... then the sequence would be periodic. The statement is true, but with this set of rules, the first number determines the sequence, and 1,1 is not a valid start for a sequence. In other words, all sequences generated with this rule start by x,0,... . However, we can actually verify that there are at least 2 such sequences that are "profoundly" different (i.e. one is not a subsequence of the other): 0,0,1,0,2,0,2,2,1,... and 1,0,0,1,3,0,3,2,0,3,3,1,8,0,... ("0,0" is a subsequence that appears exactly once on each sequence). A "not profoundly different" sequence would be: -1,0,0,1,0,2,... , if we allow for x to be a negative integer. With this I just realized that if 0,0,... does take all the positive integer values, then it might be "easy" to prove that x,0,... is a "profoundly different" sequence from y,0,... iff x!=y and both are natural numbers. Looking at it in the other way, if there's a value z that's not part of the sequence 0,0,... , then z,0,... is not "profoundly different" from 0,0,... .
@blahsomethingclever5 жыл бұрын
Agreed. There are some more interesting sequences with modified rules: Add 1 to any new number. Subtract 1 from the number following a zero. That sequence looks just .. loopy. Very interesting.
@Ashebrethafe5 жыл бұрын
This looked wrong at first -- then I realized that x!=y was supposed to be "x is not equal to y", not "x factorial is equal to y".
@JNCressey5 жыл бұрын
@@Ashebrethafe, haha... "factorial". Funny how programmers have managed to decide on ways to type 'not equal' and understand eachother eg '!=', 'neq', '>
@manuc.2605 жыл бұрын
eq is the true way to write not equal for mathematicians
@oisyn5 жыл бұрын
@@JNCressey I just use a custom keyboard layout that allows me to type symbols like ≠ ;)
@awindwaker41305 жыл бұрын
Is it starting to rain? Afraid so. Is this going to hurt? Afraid so. Are we out of coffee? Afraid so. Is the car totaled? Afraid so. Will this leave a scar? Afraid so. Hotel? Trivago.
@UnorthodoxSoundwave.5 жыл бұрын
GOSH DARNIT
@DocteurZeuhl5 жыл бұрын
Is this comment bland? Afraid so. Should this meme be left to die? Afraid so.
@Mars87655 жыл бұрын
Is the comment above true? Afraid so.
@nanamacapagal83424 жыл бұрын
i hate this
@whatisthis28094 жыл бұрын
hotel? afraid so r? afraid so afraid so? afraid so so afraid? afraid so are you afraid so? afraid so deez nuts? gottem
@johubify5 жыл бұрын
This channel is the channel which aided me to do very well in Mathematics, and is the channel responsible for my uprising interest in this subject!
@WTFBOOMDOOM5 жыл бұрын
His smile at 3:50 says it all :)
@RebirthFlame5 жыл бұрын
This guy is great. Love his enthusiasm.
@ionymous67335 жыл бұрын
he always reminds me of Professor Farnsworth. I love it!
@NightwingSkywalker5 жыл бұрын
I see it. Now I can't unsee it.
@faastex5 жыл бұрын
I love this sequence, everytime I think it's going to repeat itself it doesn't.
@kinyutaka5 жыл бұрын
Seriously, I keep seeing repeated patterns in it, but they're always in different sections and separated.
@RoyBrush5 жыл бұрын
If you guys are interested in playing with this sequence, I wrote some javascript code that you can use to generate terms quite easily: function van_eck(terms){ function find_index_in_array_from_back(arr, i){ for(var c = arr.length-1; c >= 0; c--){ if(arr[c] == i){ return c; } } return -1; } var s = [0]; var s_1 = 0; for(var c = 0; c < terms; c++){ var index = find_index_in_array_from_back(s, s_1); var distance_back = s.length - index; s.push(s_1); if(index >= 0){ s_1 = distance_back; }else{ s_1 = 0; } } return [s, s_1]; } In terms of playing with it, you can, for example: console.log(Array.from(new Set(van_eck(100000)[0])).sort((a,b)=> a - b)) You can see all the unique numbers within the fist 100000 terms of the sequence. By matching up the numbers with the indexes in the output, we can see that all the numbers up to somewhere in the 1500s are included in this number of terms (as well as several numbers beyond, but EVERY whole number up to there is included). If we do: console.log(Array.from(new Set(van_eck(1000000)[0])).sort((a,b)=> a - b)) Every number up to somewhere in the 8000s is included, and many more beyond. Anyway, that's just one idea, you can of course do whatever you want. I had some fun playing around with the sequence, so if you want to play with it, the code is there for you, just do CTRL+i in chrome (or bring up developer tools in any browser) go over to the console, paste it in, and away you go!
@thedenial5 жыл бұрын
Neil: The obvious questions are… Me: What set of circumstance led to someone creating such an arbitrary set of rules.
@JorgetePanete5 жыл бұрын
Boredom, probably
@letao125 жыл бұрын
Well, pretty much all of math arose from bored people creating arbitrary sets of rules, and then figuring out what they did.
@1996Pinocchio5 жыл бұрын
Creativity, folks.
@JasperJanssen5 жыл бұрын
Someone looking for an interesting sequence to submit to the number sequence encyclopedia.
@Euquila5 жыл бұрын
@@letao12 the rules might be arbitrary but the relationships enable spaceflight
@2Cerealbox5 жыл бұрын
There is something so calming about the way he basks in these sequences.
@vitorbortolin68105 жыл бұрын
Listen to this sequence in the library, it is amazing.
@srinjoy.bhuiya5 жыл бұрын
Numberphile is my favourite channel
@TemplerOO75 жыл бұрын
This series is amazing. Not intuitive, sort of alternating and unsolved. Reminds me of the 3n+1 problem, but in a more interesting and (probably also easier to solve) way
@numbers935 жыл бұрын
MOAR OF THIS GUY PLS
@steveyankou41445 жыл бұрын
the slope roughly equalling 1 is kinda blowing my mind.
@firstlast88585 жыл бұрын
Really shouldn't be that surprising. At any nth term x, x cannot be larger than n, because that would mean you would have to look back an amount of steps larger than the total amount of steps you have taken. Therefore, since the maximum value of x is equal to the value of n, drawing a line through all the peaks should give a line that approximately maps to y=x, or a slope of 1.
@simoncowell10295 жыл бұрын
@@firstlast8858 Doesn't your argument show that the slope should be "less than or equal to 1", rather than "equal to 1" ?
@BainesMkII5 жыл бұрын
@@firstlast8858 That's only half an argument. You've only explained why the slope cannot be above 1, not why it should be near 1. Indeed, since the sequence starts with 0, the maximum value of x is less than n. Further, it is easy to assume that x grows slower than n, so it isn't immediately evident that the slope would remain near 1.
@BobStein5 жыл бұрын
@@BainesMkII Hmm, as soon as a number is "used" to look back to, it will never be used again. So eventually all the starting numbers must get "used" up. I wonder how fast the consecutive used-up numbers progresses right, because that could limit HOW MUCH less than 1 the slope is.
@kinyutaka5 жыл бұрын
@@BobStein my guess, based on the first 173 numbers of the sequence is about 1/10
@noomwyn79195 жыл бұрын
I have watched this video a few times now and absolutely enjoy this video! This is now one of my favorite sequences, it's so delightful! 😀
To print the first 1000 numbers with python 🐍 nMAX=1000 L=[0,0] n=2 while n0 and b==0): if L[a]==x: b=1 a=a-1 if a==0: L.append(0) print(0) else: L.append(n-2-a) print(n-2-a) n=n+1
@oxedex32665 жыл бұрын
thanks, stranger whom i never met before. you truly are a genius. and also sexy.
@adamengelhart51594 жыл бұрын
So I saw the title and clicked on the video, and I just glanced at the description for maybe a few hundred milliseconds, and I saw OEIS mentioned, and I thought "oh, nice, they've got the Sloane's entry for it." Then I watched the video and realized that they've also got *Sloane.* :-D
@xaviercombelle43165 жыл бұрын
I love you neil sloane for oeis, it is very handy for an amateurish mathematician like me
@feliciabarker92105 жыл бұрын
I could sit and watch an animation showing each number getting added and counting the spaces back for ages, it's hypnotic and pleasing
@MichaelKrzyzaniak5 жыл бұрын
In case anyone else was confused by the last step of his proof, it is stated a little more clearly in the OEIS: The periodic part does not contain any zeros. Suppose the period has length p, and starts at term r, with a(r)=x, ..., a(r+p-1)=z, a(r+p)=x, ... There is another z after q
@lyndenw22405 жыл бұрын
What I don't follow is why for it to be bounded it has to be periodic. I get the M^M possible permutations of M numbers 1-M. The sequence will have to repeat blocks at some point, but pi has that same restriction (albeit with single numbers and not blocks). There's only 10 numbers available there and it manages to be non-periodic and carry on infinitely. Why could this sequence not 'settle' to repeating 10 or more blocks of M numbers in a similar non-periodic way? EDIT: And of course I realise immediately after you could never repeat 2 blocks or this leads to the same logic as the original proof, that this will lead to a periodic part one step back etc. And I assume you can only rearrange the blocks a finite number of ways before being forced to either repeat 2 or repeat the order.
@MichaelKrzyzaniak5 жыл бұрын
@@lyndenw2240 Assuming the sequence is bounded, the next number in the sequence is always determined by at most the past M numbers. So if a chunk of M numbers occurs a second time, the number immediately following that chunk will be the same the first and second times. Successive application of the same argument shows that the whole sequence would be periodic. Because there are only finitely many (M*M) possible chunks of length M, some chunk is guaranteed to repeat.
@AH-nz3gm5 жыл бұрын
He's wearing a Pink Floyd shirt! One more reason he's a badass.
@InzaneFlippers5 жыл бұрын
hahah he wore a jimi hendrix shirt in another episode! a true beast
@StefanReich5 жыл бұрын
You worship the establishment too much
@AH-nz3gm5 жыл бұрын
@@StefanReich You worship my root chakra too much
@Albimar175 жыл бұрын
3:51 for a DSOTM T-shirt. What a legend Neil Sloane is
@shadowbane74015 жыл бұрын
@@InzaneFlippers my favorite
@LaurentRizzo-12055 жыл бұрын
Bless this man
@orthoplex645 жыл бұрын
I guess there will never be an end to learning about these number sequences that make me think "well I could have thought of that"
@Pattonator144 жыл бұрын
this is a super cool sequence, I hope one day someone else wants to talk to this channel about discoveries made about it!
@BomberTVx4 жыл бұрын
About the demonstration "there might be some z's in the middle" and after thag absumption proving a contradiction seems weak, why add a z inside which is the same the last number of the period, and instead not take x directly (or z and then the a is x)
@toyodathon085 жыл бұрын
Love this guy’s explanations
@rikschaaf5 жыл бұрын
We also know that the nth number cant be larger than n, because there arent more than n steps before n. Therefore the fastest way for the sequence to grow is linearly. it could still be root of n or log n, but n^2 or 2^n are ruled out.
@jordanlinus61785 жыл бұрын
I can't prove it grows linearly, but it is quite simple to prove limsup a(n)/√n ≥ 1 Proof: Whenever a(n)=0, either there have been √n zeros in the sequence, thus √n new distinct numbers (and at least one bigger than √n), or there have been less than √n zeros in the sequence, and thus there is at least one gap between two zeros which is at least √n wide. Even though this is very far from linear, I haven't seen any lower bound yet, so let's start here. And go back to find a better one!
@titaniumO25 жыл бұрын
I would consider it linear growth. The value at a(n) is always less than n. In my reasoning this rules out exponential growth. I would certainly like to prove that the growth approaches { y = 0.809 x }.
@Abdega5 жыл бұрын
2:15 accidental poetry by Neil Sloane
@wijzijnwij5 жыл бұрын
5:44 "there might be other copies of z in the period" Okay, but what if there aren't? I guess the same reasoning still holds, but it confused me when he didn't complete cover both possible cases, felt like a loose end.
@turingcomplete30685 жыл бұрын
Well there has to be at least one, because z is defined to be the last number in the period.
@danielgrace78875 жыл бұрын
When he draws the first period that is the earliest point at which the period can start. So if there was no other z in the period then x would have to be the length of the period (it can't be any more than that length). But that means that we could draw the period one step earlier, because another z would have to occur just before the first period, and that's a contradiction. So z must occur somewhere else within the period. It's essentially the same argument but with x=a. Sloane generalises by looking at the first z in the period, wherever that may be.
@robo30075 жыл бұрын
Well if there wasn't, you could just redefine the period to be two iterations of the pattern instead which would mean you'd have two copies of z and the proof would still follow.
@epicuro_2 жыл бұрын
I was wondering the same, but: there's at least one z (in the end of the period) and the argument also works for it.
@MarcusCactus5 жыл бұрын
I have a hunch (meaning I have no idea how to demonstrate anything) that this is related to the primes. Why? Because each time a new number enters, the sequence produces a zero. Just like, when you do an Eratosthenes sieve, you write off any ‘’new’’ factor you encounter.
@johnnull13755 жыл бұрын
The answer is 4 You have 2 numbers divisible by 3, and three numbers divisible by 3 ONLY if added together or subtracted from one another; so the 2 that are divisible by 3 can be added together or subtracted from each other and the other 3 can be added to or subtracted from each result... 4 possible answers to the +/- question
@JJ-kl7eq5 жыл бұрын
There’s a less interesting sequence known as the Xan Acks sequence.
@SliversRebuilt5 жыл бұрын
J J it’s just a series of Z’s
@DocteurZeuhl5 жыл бұрын
I love you both, guys.
@randomdude91355 жыл бұрын
The video is about Van Eck's sequence. What are you talking about?
@JJ-kl7eq5 жыл бұрын
@PUN not genius - The video is about Van Eck’s sequence. What are YOU talking about
@Pete-Prolly5 жыл бұрын
Love the sequence, Love the proof, Love the Pink Floyd shirt!!
@pcfilho4255 жыл бұрын
One day I will post a sequence to the OEIS, and Neil Sloane will comment it in Numberphile, and I will be so proud of it. :)
@chipblock28545 жыл бұрын
I love numbers and how they relate with each other. I never heard of this. Has anyone ever programmed a computer to see how far you can go? What I am fond of saying is, "The more I learn, the less I don't know!" (Or realize I don't know.)
@hunlem5 жыл бұрын
This was a fun programming challenge. Created an algorithm to compute n values in linear time!
@TG-ru8wl3 жыл бұрын
Question is... What's its application? _I can already hear the surge of "Don't know"s flooding in._
@ZolarV5 жыл бұрын
I have a solution for you. Perform the sequence on base 2. Look at the number of steps it takes to complete each number of digits. Notice as you near completion a subset of digits, you begin a new subset of larger digits. Let A be the set of integers in base 2 that have 1 digit. Let B be the set of integers in base 2 that have 2 digits.... Let N be the set of integers in base 2 that have N+1 digits. I conjecture that as van eck sequence completes the N set after m steps, the m+1 step is a number in the N+1 set and the last number in N is within m+1 to m+k steps. Where m+k steps nears completion of the N+1 subset. That is to say, as the sequence completes a subset of integers, it begins the next larges subset and within the completion of that subset is the last integer that completes the prior subset. I suppose you could order the numbers in N subsets by difficulty or some other ordering other than size. I also surmise that if its true in base 2, then each subsequent base it will also be true as we don't change anything about the numbers only the number of symbols we have in each subset of digits.
@sin3divcx5 жыл бұрын
Ohh gosh, that's an amazing sequence!And there are lots of questions rising: Does the sequence has infinite non zero terms? how often does each term appear? Does each positive integer appear in there? Can we find an algebraic expression for it? In order to find the n-th term, do we really need to know all the previous terms? So many questions, i love it!
@GermaphobeMusic5 жыл бұрын
2:40 when your crush sends you their bionicle collection
@bengineer85 жыл бұрын
I miss bionicle
@shadowbane74015 жыл бұрын
Lunar arithmetic*
@takonyka5 жыл бұрын
damn we are evrywhere. all hail bonkles
@italyspotlighter73615 жыл бұрын
Another great video. Thanks for producing this extremely engaging material.
@InviDoll5 жыл бұрын
The animation at 2:47 is pure magic. Also, YES, love this guy.
@PopeGoliath5 жыл бұрын
Since the Nth term can never be larger than N, we at least know it cant grow faster than linearly over the long term. I've established an upper bound on it's growth! :D *pats self on back ironically*
@david_ga84905 жыл бұрын
I have a suggestion: This is called The five sticks problem Each stick is valued 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 You can not repeat sticks or made an earlier group of sticks that has existed, for instance: 10, 30 and 40 You can not make 30 40 and 10 cause its the same But you could do 10, 30 Or any subgroup (is not like Tree(3)) The question is: In how many ways you can get each result of the adittion of all points worthed each stick? Each result is done like this: Case X: 20, 30 and 50 20 + 30 + 50 = 100 So 100 could be done like taht, but also 50, 40 and 10 and others... I'd love to see a video of that problem, thanks! ☺️
@mathematicalmatt5 жыл бұрын
I saw “sequence” and knew it would be Neil!
@oneMeVz5 жыл бұрын
Definitely want to see more on this sequence
@kanynmaloney21805 жыл бұрын
I wish I had as much enthusiasm as this guy explaining math
@SaveSoilSaveSoil3 жыл бұрын
Fascinating! I have never seen anything quite like this before!
@6infinity84 жыл бұрын
Hello advent of code folks :)
@LaGuerre195 жыл бұрын
Neil Sloane is the piper at the gates of dawn.
@LaurentRizzo-12055 жыл бұрын
0 so the next term is 0 we saw 0 a minute ago no wayyyy
@sigmatechie95285 жыл бұрын
By minute he mean a step
@phatrickmoore5 жыл бұрын
seems to have a slope 1 because it is bounded by a line with slope 1 (at position n, the furthest back you could have seen a number was n steps ago)
@beaumatthews6411 Жыл бұрын
2:32 - Sloane claims to be an editor at OEIS. What is he hiding? The fact he is actually the founder
@NoNameAtAll25 жыл бұрын
Sequence that starts from 2 numbers - "1,1" - can be periodic
@NoNameAtAll25 жыл бұрын
@@mxmdabeast6047 "sequence that starts"
@MattStum5 жыл бұрын
That would be an illegal starting pair by the definition of the sequence. If you start with a 1, the next number has to be 0. Note that the sequence as-shown doesn't start with 0,0 but rather just 0 and proceeds from there.
@NoNameAtAll25 жыл бұрын
@@MattStum Definition of sequence is the mechanism by which new numbers are added The starting sequence is free parameters that allow to generate different strings of same ruleset
@MichaelGraham19805 жыл бұрын
NoName the rule is if you haven’t seen the number before then you write a 0. You haven’t seen 1 before so the sequence starts 1,0,0,1,3,...
@chrisg30305 жыл бұрын
Can "1,1" ever appear anywhere in the sequence?
@kinyutaka5 жыл бұрын
Well, I don't know if the slope is actually 1, because I'm getting no numbers in the sequence at all that are more than the position in the sequence, that is to say, X>Y as a general rule. If we graph the known points of increase, to get the maximum values, you have (1,0)(3,1)(5,2)(10,6)(24,9)(30,14).and (56,20) That starts at a slope of 0.5, and slows to a rate as low as 0.23, leaving an expected value of Y (the highest number that you should get if you randomly choose an X value) of less than X/2 Edit: I might have messed up. I picked the points with the highest X values in a group, when I should have picked the lowest x values Fixing issues above.
@shanmukhch4 жыл бұрын
AOC 2020 day15.
@CasualGraph5 жыл бұрын
7:02 Interesting question, I'm thinking 4? 31 mod 3 = 13 mod 3 = 4 mod 3 = 1 and 81 mod 3 = 9 mod 3 = 0 so if the result is divisible by 3 (ie. result mod 3 = 0) the signs in front of 31, 13, & 4 can be + or - but they must match. Then the sign in front of 9 can then be + or - so that makes 2*2=4 combinations.
@kaychimav5 жыл бұрын
This man is 80 years old. Incredible.
@letMeSayThatInIrish5 жыл бұрын
Is it starting to rain? Did the check bounce? Are we out of coffee? Is this going to hurt? Could you lose your job? Did the glass break? Was the baggage misrouted? Will this go on my record? Are you missing much money? Was anyone injured? Is the traffic heavy? Do I have to remove my clothes? Will it leave a scar? Must you go? Will this be in the papers? Is my time up already? Are we seeing the understudy? Will it affect my eyesight? Did all the books burn? Are you still smoking? Is the bone broken? Will I have to put him to sleep? Was the car totaled? Am I responsible for these charges? Are you contagious? Will we have to wait long? Is the runway icy? Was the gun loaded? Could this cause side effects? Do you know who betrayed you? Is the wound infected? Are we lost? Will it get any worse?
@rc64315 жыл бұрын
This man is an excellent teller.
@alexander_adnan5 жыл бұрын
Hey Brady, I believe this is an answer to the number of arrangement possible while keeping the alternated Sum divisible by 3: 81 - 31 + 9 - 13 - 4 = 42 Answer : there is 2!+3! = 8 possible arrangement of signs that will keep the alternated sum divisible by 3. which are: (81+9) + (31+13+4) and (81+9) - (31+13+4) (-81-9) + (31+13+4) and (-81-9) - (31+13+4) (-81+9)+ (31+13+4) and (-81+9) - (31+13+4) (81-9) + (31+13+4) and (81-9) - (31+13+4) Argument: In the list (81, 31, 9 ,13 4) we have : (81, 9) (31 ,13 , 4 ) will independently determine the outcome of the divisibility by 3. (81mod3 = 0 and 9 mod3 =0) which means that any arrangement of sign(9) and sign(81) won't affect the divisibility by 3, and there's 2!=2 possible arrangement of this kind. In other hand we have ( 31 mod 3 = 13 mod 3 = 4 mod 3 =1) any arrangement of sign(31) and sign(13) and sign(4) won't affect the divisibility by 3, and there's 3!=6 possible arrangement of this kind. Consequently, there is 2!+3! = 8 possible arrangement of signs that will keep the alternated sum divisible by 3.
@Luper1billion5 жыл бұрын
Its like a self-modulating system. The proof for it not being a repeating cycle reminds me a FM synthesis
@mvmlego12125 жыл бұрын
I don't understand the final step of the proof. Specifically, the statement at 6:23 confused me. He didn't push back the beginning of the period; he demonstrated that there is a z in the previous period.
@bemusedalligator5 жыл бұрын
which means there always has to be a period before the one you're looking at right now, so the periods could never start due to a bootstrapping paradox since the sequence has a beginning.
@spectralpiano38815 жыл бұрын
I don't know why he made it so complex.. So lets say a period looks like C D E ... L M N. Since the second period starts with C this means the length of the period is C and before the first period there has to be a N. But this means the period now looks like N C D E ... L M and so on, so there can only be a repeating pattern if it goes all the way to the beginning. The problem here is there can't be any 0's in a period because zeroes are only used when it's a new number and a repetitive sequence can't have anything new. The sequence has by design 0s so periodicity is not possible.
@MatheusLeston5 жыл бұрын
As a Brazilian, I'm really curious to know what are those "Brazil" books in the background.
@howardgreen97185 жыл бұрын
Another great video enhanced by your very effective animations 👍