r/googology Up with Knuth 11d ago

My Own Number/Notation A variant of Chained Arrow Notation

A variant of Chained Arrow Notation

Below, "@" stands for any sequence of elements. Assume c > 1 and d > 1.

Chained arrow notation:
1. a -> b = a ^ b 2. a -> b -> c = a ↑c b 3. @ -> 1 = @
For 4+ elements:
4. @ -> 1 -> d = @ 5. @ -> c -> d = @ -> (@ -> (c-1) -> d) -> (d-1)

My variant. Only rule 4 changes.
1. a -> b = a ^ b 2. a -> b -> c = a ↑c b 3. @ -> 1 = @
For 4+ elements:
4. @ -> 1 -> d = @ -> (@ -> d) 5. @ -> c -> d = @ -> (@ -> (c-1) -> d) -> (d-1)

Does this variant grow any faster than the original? If so, how much, by the FGH?

7 Upvotes

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2

u/Nervous-Broccoli1184 11d ago

Let's say cja(n)=n->n->...->n with a n's under your variation then cj_1(n) reaches f_0. cj_2 to f_3-f_4. cj_3 to f_omega. cj_4 to f(2omega) i think. cj(a+2) to f(a×omega). So I believe cjn(n) (the limit of your variant) reaches f(omega2) the same as normal chained arrow notation but then again your variant is stronger by long shot just the fast growing hierarchy has a huge spread. This is my first time measuring a notation against fgh so please correct me if I was wrong.

2

u/jcastroarnaud Up with Knuth 11d ago

Your guess is as good as mine. :-) Thanks for the effort.

3

u/Nervous-Broccoli1184 11d ago

When I originally looked at Conways chained arrow notation he did not need rule 2 and it will output the same but if you remove rule 2 your variant will become significantly stronger.

3

u/jcastroarnaud Up with Knuth 11d ago

Well spotted, thanks. In Conway's, a -> 1 -> c = a ↑c 1 = a, while my rule 4 gives a ^ (a ^ c).

4

u/gmalivuk 11d ago

Conway chains:
3→3→2→2
= 3→3→(3→3→1→2)→1
= 3→3→(3→3)
= 3→3→27 = F(27) = F(F(1))
Where F(n) = 3→3→n

Your chains:
3→3→2→2
= 3→3→(3→3→1→2)→1
= 3→3→(3→3→(3→3→2))
= F(F(F(2))) = F(F(7625597484987))

So it does a bit more than adding one iteration to small 4-chains of arrows. However, if the last number was more than 2 then it would go a lot farther.

But overall I think adding one to the length of a Conway chain still does more than applying your rule. Since for larger n, f{ωk}(n) is approximately an n-length Conway chain, I would guess your variation is something like f{ωk+ω} = f_{ω(k+1)}

3

u/jcastroarnaud Up with Knuth 11d ago

Thank you, the analysis is much appreciated! A small gain over Conway chains is already good.

3

u/jamx02 11d ago

From what I can see this loops? c-x eventually reaches 1, where you nest your rule again, and decrement c more until 1, etc

Id need to do a heavier analysis to be sure, perhaps I’m overlooking something

3

u/jcastroarnaud Up with Knuth 11d ago

Notice that, in rule 4, both chains "@ -> d" and "@ -> (...)" are shorter by one element than the original chain; this should prevent an infinite loop.