In mathematics, the Scholz conjecture sometimes called the Scholz–Brauer conjecture or the Brauer–Scholz conjecture (named after A. Scholz and Alfred T. Brauer), is a conjecture from 1937 stating that
- l(2n − 1) ≤ n − 1 + l(n) where l(n) is the length of the shortest addition chain producing n. N. Clift checked this by computer for n ≤ 46.
As an example, l(5) = 3 (since 1 + 1 = 2, 2 + 2 = 4, 4 + 1 = 5, and there is no shorter chain) and l(31) = 7 (since 1 + 1 = 2, 2 + 1 = 3, 3 + 3 = 6, 6 + 6 = 12, 12 + 12 = 24, 24 + 6 = 30, 30 + 1 = 31, and there is no shorter chain), so
- l(25−1) = 5 − 1 + l(5).
Famous quotes containing the word conjecture:
“There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)