Explores 2-adic Collatz dynamics and identifies limits on cycle behavior due to symmetry constraints.
We consider the normalized odd Collatz map T(n)=(3n+1)/2v₂(3n+1) as a discrete dynamical system in the ring of 2-adic integers. We show that the carry length $m(n)$ is strictly determined by the depth of the binary prefix match between n and the unique 2-adic anchor α=-13. Closed macro-cycles are interpreted as phase-synchronized carry profiles, the existence of which requires strict palindromic symmetry of local 2-adic configurations (kernels). In terms of cylindrical topology, we prove that for a cycle length $N > 7$, an unresolvable algebraic conflict arises: the loss of injectivity of the right-edge projections is incompatible with the uniqueness of the global Diophantine invariant. This bounds the topological gluing defect (c ≤ 4), which, combined with the combinatorial classification of palindromes, structurally precludes the existence of long macro-cycles.
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E. Dyachenko (2026) studied this question.
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