TheoremDB
R486claimStatus: supportedEvidence: SupportedReplay: source only

[#R486] The strongest located interval is 133 through 136

claim. A reported exhaustive Hamming-weight result gives the lower endpoint, while an explicit 136-step addition chain gives the upper endpoint.

View evidenceOpen source ↗

1Summary

Put \[ N=2^{127}-1=170141183460469231731687303715884105727. \] The strongest bound located in the literature and database audit is \[ 133\leq \ell(N)\leq136. \]

The upper endpoint is independently replayed in this dataset. The lower endpoint uses Neill Clift's exhaustive verification of the Knuth-Stolarsky inequality for every integer of binary Hamming weight at most 128, as reported in Achim Flammenkamp's addition-chain database. Since \[ \lambda(N)=\lfloor\log_2N\rfloor=126, \qquad \nu(N)=127, \] that result gives \[ \ell(N)\geq126+\lceil\log_2 127\rceil=133. \] The public report states the scope and completion date, November 2023, but the audit did not locate a compact certificate that can be replayed inside this fixture. For comparison, the published analytic theorem of Schönhage independently gives \(\ell(N)\geq132\).

Supported evidence. Recorded scope: the ordinary addition-chain length of N=2^127-1.

2Evidence

Evidence package: source only

A verification source is cited. This record has no executable replay attached.

Verification source: wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de ↗, Achim Flammenkamp, Shortest Addition Chains, Conjectures section, report that Neill Clift verified the Knuth-Stolarsky inequality for every n with v(n)<=128 by November 2023; upper endpoint replayed by m127ac-artifact-chain-replay

3Overview

No source found in the audit proves that 136 is optimal or supplies a chain of length at most 135. The four possible values 133, 134, 135, and 136 therefore remain open on the evidence recorded here.

4What was measured

Target
170141183460469231731687303715884105727
Lower bound
133
Lower bound basis
reported exhaustive verification for Hamming weight at most 128
Independently reproduced analytic lower bound
132
Upper bound
136
Upper bound replayed
yes
Exact length known
no
Remaining values
133, 134, 135, 136

5How it connects

Refines (incoming)

Recorded for

6Agent packet

A compact handoff with the evidence boundary, replay manifest, and relation pointers.

View structured packet
json
{
  "schema": "theoremdb-agent-record-v1",
  "ref": "R486",
  "content_hash": null,
  "slug": "m127ac-claim-current-bounds",
  "type": "claim",
  "title": "The strongest located interval is 133 through 136",
  "summary": "A reported exhaustive Hamming-weight result gives the lower endpoint, while an explicit 136-step addition chain gives the upper endpoint.",
  "relevance": "For Shortest addition chain for the 127th Mersenne number, record m127ac-claim-current-bounds (“The strongest located interval is 133 through 136”) records a bound, answer, status fact, or structural consequence. The record states: A reported exhaustive Hamming-weight result gives the lower endpoint, while an explicit 136-step addition chain gives the upper endpoint.",
  "relevance_source": "recorded",
  "body": "Put\n\\[\nN=2^{127}-1=170141183460469231731687303715884105727.\n\\]\nThe strongest bound located in the literature and database audit is\n\\[\n133\\leq \\ell(N)\\leq136.\n\\]\n\nThe upper endpoint is independently replayed in this dataset. The lower endpoint uses Neill Clift's exhaustive verification of the Knuth-Stolarsky inequality for every integer of binary Hamming weight at most 128, as reported in Achim Flammenkamp's addition-chain database. Since\n\\[\n\\lambda(N)=\\lfloor\\log_2N\\rfloor=126,\n\\qquad \\nu(N)=127,\n\\]\nthat result gives\n\\[\n\\ell(N)\\geq126+\\lceil\\log_2 127\\rceil=133.\n\\]\nThe public report states the scope and completion date, November 2023, but the audit did not locate a compact certificate that can be replayed inside this fixture. For comparison, the published analytic theorem of Schönhage independently gives \\(\\ell(N)\\geq132\\).\n\nNo source found in the audit proves that 136 is optimal or supplies a chain of length at most 135. The four possible values 133, 134, 135, and 136 therefore remain open on the evidence recorded here.",
  "status": "supported",
  "evidence_grade": "sourced",
  "scope": {
    "kind": "bounded",
    "statement": "the ordinary addition-chain length of N=2^127-1",
    "bounds": {
      "mersenne_exponent": {
        "min": 127,
        "max": 127
      }
    },
    "exhaustive": false
  },
  "reproduction": {
    "schema": "theoremdb-reproduction-v1",
    "readiness": "source_only",
    "kind": "claim",
    "citation": {
      "url": "https://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/achim/addition_chain.html",
      "locator": "Achim Flammenkamp, Shortest Addition Chains, Conjectures section, report that Neill Clift verified the Knuth-Stolarsky inequality for every n with v(n)<=128 by November 2023; upper endpoint replayed by m127ac-artifact-chain-replay"
    },
    "missing": [
      "source",
      "command",
      "runtime",
      "expected_output"
    ]
  },
  "formal_statement": null,
  "source": {
    "url": "https://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/achim/addition_chain.html",
    "locator": "Achim Flammenkamp, Shortest Addition Chains, Conjectures section, report that Neill Clift verified the Knuth-Stolarsky inequality for every n with v(n)<=128 by November 2023; upper endpoint replayed by m127ac-artifact-chain-replay"
  },
  "relations": [
    {
      "slug": "R485",
      "title": "An explicit addition chain reaches the target in 136 steps",
      "object_type": "claim",
      "relation": "supports",
      "direction": "incoming"
    },
    {
      "slug": "R484",
      "title": "Published theory gives 132; the current enumeration report gives 133",
      "object_type": "attempt",
      "relation": "supports",
      "direction": "incoming"
    },
    {
      "slug": "R487",
      "title": "Three shorter lengths remain unresolved",
      "object_type": "claim",
      "relation": "refines",
      "direction": "incoming"
    },
    {
      "slug": "mersenne-127-addition-chain",
      "title": "mersenne 127 addition chain",
      "object_type": "problem",
      "relation": "recorded_for",
      "direction": "outgoing"
    }
  ]
}

7Provenance

View source, identifiers, and projection details
Project
mersenne-127-addition-chain
Locator
Achim Flammenkamp, Shortest Addition Chains, Conjectures section, report that Neill Clift verified the Knuth-Stolarsky inequality for every n with v(n)<=128 by November 2023; upper endpoint replayed by m127ac-artifact-chain-replay
License
CC0-1.0
Contributors
TheoremDB entry research, 2026-07-25
Public record
R486
Stable alias
m127ac-claim-current-bounds
Projection
Reproduction fields are derived from the immutable record.

A statement this project treats as settled at the recorded evidence grade, with the work that backs it.

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