Graham's Number
Graham's number itself can not be expressed accurately in Conway chained arrow notation, but by defining the intermediate function, we have: (see functional powers), and
Proof: Applying in order the definition, rule 3, and rule 4, we have:
- (with 64 's)
- (with 64 's)
- (with 64 's)
- (with 65 's)
- (computing as above).
Since f is strictly increasing,
which is the given inequality.
With chain arrows it is very easy to specify a much larger number. For example, note that
which is much greater than Graham's number.
Read more about this topic: Conway Chained Arrow Notation
Famous quotes containing the words graham and/or number:
“Billy, in one of his nice new sashes,
Fell in the fire and was burnt to ashes;”
—Harry Graham (18741936)
“It seems to me that there must be an ecological limit to the number of paper pushers the earth can sustain, and that human civilization will collapse when the number of, say, tax lawyers exceeds the worlds total population of farmers, weavers, fisherpersons, and pediatric nurses.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)