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Weak Goodstein sequence
Problem 396
Published on 30 September 2012 at 02:00 am [Server Time]
For any positive integer n, the nth weak Goodstein sequence {g1, g2, g3, ...} is defined as:
- g1 = n
- for k > 1, gk is obtained by writing gk-1 in base k, interpreting it as a base k + 1 number, and subtracting 1.
For example, the 6th weak Goodstein sequence is {6, 11, 17, 25, ...}:
- g1 = 6.
- g2 = 11 since 6 = 1102, 1103 = 12, and 12 - 1 = 11.
- g3 = 17 since 11 = 1023, 1024 = 18, and 18 - 1 = 17.
- g4 = 25 since 17 = 1014, 1015 = 26, and 26 - 1 = 25.
It can be shown that every weak Goodstein sequence terminates.
Let G(n) be the number of nonzero elements in the nth weak Goodstein sequence.
It can be verified that G(2) = 3, G(4) = 21 and G(6) = 381.
It can also be verified that ΣG(n) = 2517 for 1 ≤ n < 8.
Find the last 9 digits of ΣG(n) for 1 ≤ n < 16.
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