The Enormous TREE(3) - Numberphile

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  • Опубликовано: 12 янв 2025

Комментарии • 3,8 тыс.

  • @numberphile
    @numberphile  7 лет назад +838

    Don't miss the extra footage - Tony says it is better than the main video: ruclips.net/video/IihcNa9YAPk/видео.html

    • @erik-ic3tp
      @erik-ic3tp 7 лет назад +11

      Do a video about tetration, pentation, hexation etc...!

    • @erik-ic3tp
      @erik-ic3tp 7 лет назад +4

      Do a video about extremely big numbers in works of Archimedes!

    • @Yoyle-gp2xq
      @Yoyle-gp2xq 7 лет назад +2

      Is this Bigger
      Tree(3)^Tree(3)

    • @erik-ic3tp
      @erik-ic3tp 7 лет назад +2

      Do a video about the number of possible combinations of the Library of Babel!

    • @erik-ic3tp
      @erik-ic3tp 7 лет назад +2

      Lex Viduya,
      Yes, it is. But I mean numbers that are used in a mathematical proof.

  • @PasseScience
    @PasseScience 7 лет назад +7089

    Continue the logical sequence: 1, 3, ?

    • @andrewknorpp9415
      @andrewknorpp9415 7 лет назад +710

      Passe-Science really big

    • @andrewknorpp9415
      @andrewknorpp9415 7 лет назад +607

      Passe-Science or 5

    • @harry_page
      @harry_page 7 лет назад +468

      Could be 9, if it's a geometric sequence

    • @U014B
      @U014B 7 лет назад +461

      "?" is exactly how big TREE(3) is.

    • @qutuz9495
      @qutuz9495 7 лет назад +315

      Teachers should have this on exams and everyone fails.

  • @nilesspindrift1934
    @nilesspindrift1934 5 лет назад +3175

    The TREE function does have a practical application - the calculation of interest by loan sharks.

  • @truepinkcheetah3239
    @truepinkcheetah3239 5 лет назад +2996

    It's like my little sister counting.
    "One... three... gazillion billion"

  • @thecakeredux
    @thecakeredux 6 лет назад +1481

    I laughed really hard when he said "We have a lower limit on it. It's bigger than... well it's certainly bigger than three."

    • @findystonerush9339
      @findystonerush9339 2 года назад +7

      What! i didn't laugh! 😐😐😐.

    • @melon218
      @melon218 2 года назад +17

      @@findystonerush9339 ??

    • @mdsharfuddinmd5710
      @mdsharfuddinmd5710 2 года назад +3

      Thank you sir

    • @bitti1975
      @bitti1975 Год назад +10

      And everybody knows, anything bigger than 3 is just "big".

    • @vixguy
      @vixguy Год назад +8

      Ig it'd be smaller than TREE(4)

  • @dcs_0
    @dcs_0 7 лет назад +3597

    so, TREE(3) came about because someone gave a mathematician a third colouring pencil?

    • @rykehuss3435
      @rykehuss3435 7 лет назад +61

      No, the TREE sequence arose from graph theory.
      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_theory

    • @richardruiz476
      @richardruiz476 7 лет назад +358

      Rykehuss Annnnd you had to ruin it......

    • @Yora21
      @Yora21 6 лет назад +41

      What about a blue pen?

    • @koenslotboom1910
      @koenslotboom1910 6 лет назад +74

      @@Yora21 What have you done

    • @xueyihon3648
      @xueyihon3648 6 лет назад +33

      @@rykehuss3435 r/whoosh

  • @K-MasterGirl
    @K-MasterGirl 4 года назад +706

    Child: I can count to tree.
    Me: no I don’t think you can.

    • @no-one-1
      @no-one-1 3 года назад +38

      I can count to TREE(3 - 1) + 1.

    • @SirNobleIZH
      @SirNobleIZH 2 года назад +8

      @@no-one-1 you can count to 4

    • @roblohub2270
      @roblohub2270 2 года назад +4

      lol

    • @findystonerush9339
      @findystonerush9339 2 года назад +1

      @@roblohub2270 League of leagions lets watch!😂😂😂.

    • @o0hbomb0o
      @o0hbomb0o 2 года назад +10

      Well, if they are only counting to TREE(1) or TREE(2) it's quite possible for a child.

  • @RetroGameSpacko
    @RetroGameSpacko 7 лет назад +4835

    I prefer grahams number. You can understand its growth even as a non mathematician. Tree3 is just... "Yeah, just believe us, it's big"

    • @WalterKingstone
      @WalterKingstone 7 лет назад +530

      That's virtually what Graham's Number is too... "Yeah, it's a bunch of 3s multiplied together..."

    • @someguydudeGAME
      @someguydudeGAME 7 лет назад +311

      You can find full explanations, but they are insanely difficult to understand. I can't wrap my head around them.

    • @DooDooDiaperShitCunt
      @DooDooDiaperShitCunt 7 лет назад +600

      Graham's number is an upper bound to a problem whose actual solution may be as small as 13. While Graham's number is impressive in size, it could very well just be a horribly horribly wrong upper bound to a problem. Whereas TREE(3) has a LOWER bound that is known to be far larger than Graham's number. For this reason, TREE(3) is more fascinating to me. Although I respect Graham's number for being the first 'stupidly large' number to be used in a serious mathematical paper.

    • @cocoyepyep7509
      @cocoyepyep7509 7 лет назад +5

      Retro Game Spacko exactly
      Agree

    • @yoshi6236
      @yoshi6236 7 лет назад +3

      Retro Game Spacko lol yeah

  • @shmubman77
    @shmubman77 7 лет назад +1198

    “It’s a big number”
    Me: aight
    “It puts Graham’s number to shame”
    Me: ...aight

  • @ministryofwrongthink6962
    @ministryofwrongthink6962 4 года назад +160

    The fascinating thing about these numbers to me isn’t that they’re so large, it’s the processes that makes them finite - which is crazy within crazy because it would suggest infinitely itself is easier to understand

  • @pixlark4287
    @pixlark4287 7 лет назад +573

    This just goes to show that even if something feels infinite, you still have to prove it because there's always a chance that it only holds to an unimaginably large number like TREE(3)

    • @someguydudeGAME
      @someguydudeGAME 7 лет назад +77

      It also really helps hammer home just how big "infinity" is. When we're constructing these colossal numbers that are nothing compared to infinities.

    • @LunarDelta
      @LunarDelta 7 лет назад +117

      TBH, I find colossal numbers to be much scarier than infinity. If we say the universe is infinite then there's no need to worry about how big it is, (you might even say it doesn't even have a real size in the normal sense) but if it's TREE(3) light years across that's just nuts.

    • @anticorncob6
      @anticorncob6 7 лет назад +51

      Lunar Delta
      If scientists were to discover someday that the universe is infinite, it would make me feel less small and insignificant because literally every finite portion is exactly zero percent the whole universe (there is nothing that isn’t so tiny). But if they discovered that the universe is topologically a 3-sphere and has a volume of 10^130 (or so) m^3 that would make me feel insignificant compared to the large structures.

    • @__w__o__w__
      @__w__o__w__ 7 лет назад +9

      Surely just by going off the rules of this tree game you can assume that tree(3) is not infinite. Is some kind of proof required beyond logical reasoning in this case? If you know you know a tree can't contain previous trees then at some point you're going to run out of iterations.

    • @Frightning
      @Frightning 7 лет назад +9

      Tree size isn't a priori bounded, I think the reason why we know that TREE(3) must be finite is because of the graph minor theorem (the whole tree not containing a previous tree thing smacks of the notion of a minor in graph theory, and the graph minor theorem says that every infinite collection of graphs has one that is a minor of some other graph in that collection; there's probably a bit more to the argument because in the TREE game, order matters).

  • @XBlackMoonRisingX015
    @XBlackMoonRisingX015 3 года назад +632

    There's actually an even bigger number known as "tree fiddy" which is named after the ammount of times that damn lockness monster will try and deceive you.

  • @HonkeyKongLive
    @HonkeyKongLive 5 лет назад +120

    What I love about TREE(3) is that unlike other big numbers, they weren't intentionally looking for a huge number. One sprang up out of mathematical inquiry. That makes it more, I guess, legitimate than the likes of Rayo's Number. They had a concept and then out of this curiosity a colossal number emerged.

    • @thefirstsurvivor
      @thefirstsurvivor Год назад +7

      Rayos number is boring

    • @dxitydevil
      @dxitydevil Год назад +5

      Plus its got a funny name, TREE 🔥

    • @PC_Simo
      @PC_Simo 5 месяцев назад +3

      Well, there’s Graham’s Number, which wasn’t intentionally meant to be big.

  • @GuySperry
    @GuySperry 7 лет назад +47

    "No physical process you can use to describe it." That's my favorite way to describe truly large numbers.

  • @sethspears1630
    @sethspears1630 5 лет назад +487

    Me, talking to my sibling after borrowing some money: “how much do I owe you?”
    My sibling: 0:00 - 0:14

    • @iqbaltrojan
      @iqbaltrojan 5 лет назад +8

      DAMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

    • @nnnnick
      @nnnnick 5 лет назад +7

      THIS IS SO FUNNY

    • @agniagniagni13
      @agniagniagni13 5 лет назад +5

      every time i look at this post i start laughing uncontrollably

    • @markiyanhapyak349
      @markiyanhapyak349 4 года назад

      😆, 😆, 😜, 😅, 😅!

    • @elfro1237
      @elfro1237 4 года назад +8

      Or 6:49 to 6:55

  • @GoodVolition
    @GoodVolition 7 лет назад +631

    More interested in Tree(Fitty).

    • @cordlefhrichter1520
      @cordlefhrichter1520 7 лет назад +12

      LOL

    • @JohnMichaelson
      @JohnMichaelson 7 лет назад +20

      Well now I'm startin' to get a little suspicious...

    • @GruntUltra
      @GruntUltra 7 лет назад +4

      I spit my water out when I read this!

    • @Janis_Ukass
      @Janis_Ukass 7 лет назад +26

      Damn you Loch Ness monster with Tree(Fiddy)

    • @poiewhfopiewhf
      @poiewhfopiewhf 7 лет назад +7

      waddabout tree hunnid this is Sparta!!!

  • @Fiyaaaahh
    @Fiyaaaahh 7 лет назад +376

    I'm waiting for the follow up "The Enormous Tree(3), but everytime they say tree it gets faster"

    • @romajimamulo
      @romajimamulo 7 лет назад +5

      Fiyaaah I'll get on that

    • @annaisabanana6848
      @annaisabanana6848 7 лет назад +62

      every time they say tree it speeds up by tree(3)%

    • @romajimamulo
      @romajimamulo 7 лет назад +5

      AnnaIsABanana that's excessive

    • @MamboBean343
      @MamboBean343 7 лет назад +39

      at that rate, the video would just stop by the first time they say "tree"

    • @artemetra3262
      @artemetra3262 6 лет назад +5

      AnnaIsABanana no, slows down.

  • @subscribefornoreason542
    @subscribefornoreason542 5 лет назад +280

    _Well that escalated quickly!_

    • @3vimages471
      @3vimages471 4 года назад +4

      A four word sentence and you had to edit it?
      Interesting.

    • @redstoneplayz09
      @redstoneplayz09 4 года назад +2

      Also that was already commented here a month ago down the comments. I don't even understand it..

    • @farzanali5910
      @farzanali5910 4 года назад

      Lucien from “The Originals “

    • @dylanisaac1017
      @dylanisaac1017 3 года назад

      @@3vimages471 I think it was the italics

  • @forgotthemilkbrb8954
    @forgotthemilkbrb8954 4 года назад +917

    Imagine having a small number
    This post was made by Tree(4) gang

    • @liongames8776
      @liongames8776 4 года назад +41

      Nico Detalo imagine having a smallER number.
      This post was made by the TREE(5) gang. (There is no TREE(6) hahaha)

    • @shaansingh6048
      @shaansingh6048 4 года назад +4

      @@liongames8776 why is there no tree(6)

    • @liongames8776
      @liongames8776 4 года назад +36

      Shaan Singh no idea but who knows maybe there is but there is a.... TREE(TREE(3))

    • @SG2048-meta
      @SG2048-meta 4 года назад +6

      @@liongames8776 no there is a TREE(6) it’s just not shown here

    • @liongames8776
      @liongames8776 4 года назад +19

      @@SG2048-meta there could be a TREE(7), TREE(8), TREE(9), TREE(10), and it could just go on forever

  • @EmilMacko
    @EmilMacko 7 лет назад +673

    But how do you even calculate this? Graham's number could be "grown" via arrow notation, but what about this?

    • @someguydudeGAME
      @someguydudeGAME 7 лет назад +200

      I've seen attempts to actually show how to "explain" it, but that requires a ton of really weird formulation on how all of the stuff Tony is talking about looks on paper. It can be done, but it's insanely technical.

    • @jacks.4390
      @jacks.4390 7 лет назад +47

      So Graham's number is G64 iirc. Which G would TREE(3) be? Also, is it known which is the first busy beaver number greater than TREE(3) (or at least greater than the lowerd bound)?

    • @dawson6294
      @dawson6294 7 лет назад +118

      You couldn't express it using the "G" system used for Graham's Number, it's just too big.

    • @jacks.4390
      @jacks.4390 7 лет назад +49

      It's even bigger than G(G(G(....(G(64))...))) for a reasonable number of iterations?

    • @dawson6294
      @dawson6294 7 лет назад +104

      Yes. There is no way to describe how big this number is in layman's terms the way you can explain Graham's number, it requires more advanced mathematical concepts to explain.

  • @certifiedfurry
    @certifiedfurry 4 года назад +83

    Tree(3) is so enourmous since it essentially takes the first tree with 1 seed of Tree(2) which makes you not have any other options that single seed. However, when you still have that seed, it scales up INSANELY

    • @mdsharfuddinmd5710
      @mdsharfuddinmd5710 2 года назад +3

      Thank you sir

    • @ThreeTrees475
      @ThreeTrees475 Год назад +4

      Huh

    • @PC_Simo
      @PC_Simo 5 месяцев назад +2

      Exactly 🎯! Whichever seed you use, for the 1st tree, is forever out of the picture; you can never use it again, for that, particular forest. Which, in the case of TREE(2), leaves you, with only 1 seed, to work with (0, in the case of TREE(1)). With TREE(3), you still have 2 seeds, to work with; which gives you quite a bit more wiggle-room. 🤔

  • @iruisoleil6370
    @iruisoleil6370 7 лет назад +47

    I once thought the difference that one arrow notation makes was big
    But then the difference of tree(2) and tree(3) is just colossal

    • @lamnguyen-uh4tz
      @lamnguyen-uh4tz 7 лет назад +3

      Meh, I've seen crazier. Also, a nitpick, tree(n)

    • @lamnguyen-uh4tz
      @lamnguyen-uh4tz 7 лет назад +1

      I'm opening a Discord server dedicated to explaining ordinals and the fast growing hierarchy, which you might be interested in. The end goal will be to reach an understanding of the magnitude of TREE(3) and larger things using only recursion, and lots of it, and you might gain some insight as to how much of a difference one arrow means compared to the difference from TREE(n) to TREE(n+1).
      discord.gg/5v6ucfN
      Feel free to join, basic algebra required.

    • @whatno5090
      @whatno5090 6 лет назад

      nguyen eyyy ninja'd also hi from googology discord

    • @alonelyphoenix8942
      @alonelyphoenix8942 3 года назад

      @@lamnguyen-uh4tz send invite

  • @markorezic3131
    @markorezic3131 7 лет назад +925

    Ah, finally a number that can describe the size of my...
    love for mathematics, gottem

    • @pomtubes1205
      @pomtubes1205 7 лет назад +25

      *GOTTEM*

    • @SuperCoolMC
      @SuperCoolMC 7 лет назад +24

      i thought you were gonna say brain and i was thinking "man, this person is full of themselves"

    • @skystrike3221
      @skystrike3221 7 лет назад +3

      GOTTEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • @Breeelax
      @Breeelax 7 лет назад +7

      Gottem did not get the hero it deserved, but the one it needed.

    • @JorgetePanete
      @JorgetePanete 6 лет назад +1

      Iqbal Mala definitely*

  • @gabbersonmr.2325
    @gabbersonmr.2325 5 лет назад +723

    TREE(Graham's number) ?? :D

  • @tqnism
    @tqnism 7 лет назад +850

    And still, almost all natural numbers are bigger than that.

    • @spinn4ntier487
      @spinn4ntier487 7 лет назад +141

      Infinite natural numbers are larger than that

    • @bengtbengt3850
      @bengtbengt3850 7 лет назад +36

      This is great

    • @piguy3144
      @piguy3144 6 лет назад +161

      Precisely 100% of natural numbers are bigger than that

    • @maxnullifidian
      @maxnullifidian 6 лет назад +35

      Yeah, piguy314, and they all contain the digit 3...

    • @ukdavepianoman
      @ukdavepianoman 6 лет назад +38

      Almost all natural numbers are bigger than any natural number anyone cares to name.

  • @poseidon4675
    @poseidon4675 7 лет назад +917

    Soooooo.... What about TREE(4)?

    • @stefan1024
      @stefan1024 7 лет назад +228

      TREE(4) is actually pretty small, 9 to be exact.
      Noooooooooo!!! :D

    • @poseidon4675
      @poseidon4675 7 лет назад +272

      Wait
      How come that's so small? Surely with four colours you can build the TREE(3) forest without ever using the fourth colour, and then when you've used up all possible trees start using the fourth colour?

    • @cordlefhrichter1520
      @cordlefhrichter1520 7 лет назад +363

      TREE(TREE)

    • @anticorncob6
      @anticorncob6 7 лет назад +205

      Poseidon
      He was just joking.

    • @roderickwhitehead
      @roderickwhitehead 7 лет назад +229

      Poseidon - What about TREE FIDDY?

  • @easonli742
    @easonli742 4 года назад +95

    And I thought planting 20 million trees was a lot, apparently all we need to is to plant 3

  • @Philoreason
    @Philoreason 6 лет назад +418

    FOREST(3) = TREE(TREE(...TREE(3))...)

    • @marketplierr
      @marketplierr 6 лет назад +11

      Not too much bigger than TREE(3)

    • @Peter_Schluss-Mit-Lustig
      @Peter_Schluss-Mit-Lustig 6 лет назад +22

      SSCG(3) is still way bigger (not even talking about SCG(3) or SCG(13).)

    • @Peter_Schluss-Mit-Lustig
      @Peter_Schluss-Mit-Lustig 6 лет назад +3

      @@metachirality and the Uncomputable functions

    • @Dexuz
      @Dexuz 5 лет назад +10

      @@marketplierr
      WAAAAAY bigger than TREE(3)
      But also smaller than an infinite number of naturals.

    • @marketplierr
      @marketplierr 5 лет назад +8

      @@Dexuz it's not way bigger than TREE(3) if you compare them using the fast growing hierarchy. The difference between TREE and FOREST is literally just adding 1 to a pretty large infinity

  • @abcdefzhij
    @abcdefzhij 6 лет назад +102

    My question is, do we have any way of knowing or determining the first n steps of the optimal sequence of trees for TREE(3)?

  • @StrunDoNhor
    @StrunDoNhor 5 лет назад +77

    I still prefer Graham's Number because you can see the process by which you get there and (to a very limited extent) wrap your head around how absurdly large the number is. TREE(3) is, well, just a really big number. Yes, it's countless magnitudes _larger_ than Graham's Number, but as I like to say, "It's not the size of the pen that matters, but the poetry you write with it." I'm still interested in TREE(3) enough to learn more about out it, and find out why it behaves the way it does, but it still doesn't have that daunting, step-by-step escalation that Graham's Number does.

    • @findystonerush9339
      @findystonerush9339 2 года назад

      So why don't you like G64!

    • @AbsoluteZero-zg9gj
      @AbsoluteZero-zg9gj Год назад +4

      TREE3 we only know that it's way bigger than Graham Number. We don't know actually how big is it

    • @shanggosteen9804
      @shanggosteen9804 Год назад

      Rayo(10¹⁰⁰) is probably my favourite big number.
      It's easy to visualize, and it's reasonable.
      There are many ways to interpret it.
      Tree(3) is just like, a number. There's not really another way to visualize it other than it's original meaning, which is kind of boring

    • @richardterroni9433
      @richardterroni9433 Год назад

      ​@@AbsoluteZero-zg9gjWe sort of do, we know that it's smaller than other massive numbers

    • @alansmithee419
      @alansmithee419 Год назад +1

      @@AbsoluteZero-zg9gj There are specific known lower and upper bounds for TREE(3), though the upper bound is less well-researched.
      The fact that it's bigger than Graham's number is not remotely "all we know." If you want to know more there is a lot of learning to do to get there, but these number can be parsed more thoroughly than you're aware.
      Indeed there are estimations comparing the entire TREE(n) function's growth rate as compared to the functions in the Fast Growing Hierarchy (which if you like Graham's number, and don't know about already, I highly suggest looking into).

  • @cjkala
    @cjkala 7 лет назад +373

    stopped doing my maths to watch maths

    • @MrSkinnyWhale
      @MrSkinnyWhale 7 лет назад +28

      Maths can really sneak up on you. You think you're ok doing it once, you start with 2+2, maybe someone teaches you some things about real and complex numbers in a dark alley. Next thing you know you're hooked on TREE(3).

    • @hans1059
      @hans1059 7 лет назад +15

      It's truly horrible... I've recently seen a documentation about an addict, he already started doing it in elementary school.

    • @whatisthis2809
      @whatisthis2809 6 лет назад +1

      Math*

    • @BluJellu
      @BluJellu 6 лет назад +1

      Connor K a

    • @CharlesPanigeo
      @CharlesPanigeo 6 лет назад +2

      Same. I got distracted from my abstract algebra homework to watch a video on graph theory lol. I can't wait to take my graph theory course next semester

  • @Robi2009
    @Robi2009 7 лет назад +24

    YES! Finally! I waited for a TREE(3) Numberphile episode for ages!

    • @BugsBullets
      @BugsBullets 6 лет назад +2

      and next Loader's Number :D

  • @yrrahyrrah
    @yrrahyrrah 5 лет назад +97

    I love how "tree" is a mathematical function. :)

    • @Peter_Schluss-Mit-Lustig
      @Peter_Schluss-Mit-Lustig 5 лет назад +13

      There are actually around 8 tree related functions two of them even faster than tree

  • @rohitg1529
    @rohitg1529 7 лет назад +32

    We've all been waiting for this since the Graham's number videos

  • @majkgmajkg2613
    @majkgmajkg2613 7 лет назад +188

    Finally easy video about TREE(3)!!!! Thank you!

    • @poseidon4675
      @poseidon4675 7 лет назад +54

      MajkG MajkG unexpected factorial

    • @majkgmajkg2613
      @majkgmajkg2613 7 лет назад +20

      You're right. I shouldn't mix my excitement with mathematic. :D

    • @SpektralJo
      @SpektralJo 7 лет назад +15

      MajkG MajkG TREE(3)!!!! is a large number indeed

    • @quantumbanana
      @quantumbanana 7 лет назад +16

      TREE(3) and TREE(3)!!!! are essentially indistinguishable, so they are effectively the same size.

    • @zionj104
      @zionj104 7 лет назад +1

      same dude same

  • @Gimodon
    @Gimodon 3 года назад +10

    TREE(3) is so big it makes short jokes about Graham's Number.

  • @JohnMichaelson
    @JohnMichaelson 7 лет назад +77

    How big are the roots of these trees, and how much wood could a woodchuck chuck from them?

    • @michaeltomecsek10
      @michaeltomecsek10 7 лет назад

      John Michaelson probably allot

    • @AJJJJJJJJJJJJ
      @AJJJJJJJJJJJJ 6 лет назад +1

      ohhh as in plant roots hahahah nice joke

    • @Dexuz
      @Dexuz 5 лет назад

      @asd
      Spoiler, TREE(3)th root of 1 is small.

    • @nilesspindrift1934
      @nilesspindrift1934 5 лет назад

      @@Dexuz TREE(3)th root of 1 is 1

    • @Dexuz
      @Dexuz 5 лет назад

      @@nilesspindrift1934 Honestly, I don't even know why I said root, I should have said 1 divided by TREE(3)

  • @RedXiongmao
    @RedXiongmao 7 лет назад +8

    So excited! I've been waiting for this video ever since tree(3) was alluded to in the original Graham's number video.

  • @Uranyus36
    @Uranyus36 4 года назад +29

    "To explain what TREE(3) comes from, well it comes from a game of trees."
    Well, great, thanks professor.

  • @dan_tr4pd00r
    @dan_tr4pd00r 7 лет назад +142

    I think Ackermann numbers (and Ackermann functions) would make for a really great topic on Numberphile, mainly for people who like stupidly big numbers- like me!

    • @SpektralJo
      @SpektralJo 7 лет назад

      Hi Ho Wolverhampton how stupidly big should the numbers get?

    • @Abdega
      @Abdega 7 лет назад +4

      I think the Ackermann functions were talked a little bit about in Computerphile
      It would be nice to see another look at them in Numberphile

    • @natemoorman4562
      @natemoorman4562 7 лет назад

      Seconded!

    • @abcdefzhij
      @abcdefzhij 6 лет назад +2

      Look up Googology wiki, it's a great resource for this stuff. You can look up the Ackermann function there as well. BTW, don't get too excited, Ackermann function isn't nearly as powerful as TREE() and you're never going to define a number as large as TREE(3) just using the Ackermann function; You CAN easily pass Graham's number with it, though.

    • @timecomfort8556
      @timecomfort8556 6 лет назад

      Like them? I love them .

  • @sbormato2
    @sbormato2 3 года назад +41

    "What is it useful for? What does any of this got to do with anything that's important?"
    End cut with no answer

    • @swinger9374
      @swinger9374 5 месяцев назад +1

      They made an extra video with the answer in it

  • @bobibest89
    @bobibest89 2 года назад +63

    I think Tree(3) is the most interesting of these giant numbers because this game of trees looks so simple and all it takes is 3 seeds to produce a number that makes Graham's number look like nothing.

    • @R3cce
      @R3cce 2 года назад +6

      Grahams number is effectively zero compared to TREE(3). It is even bigger than GGGG…G64 with G64 iterations of G. In fact the number of times you would need to iterate the G function to beat it is TREE(3) itself, so basically pointless. You can’t even express TREE(3) using chain arrows. That’s just how big it is

    • @R3cce
      @R3cce 2 года назад +5

      Also TREE(n) has a growth rate between the SVO( Small Veblen Ordinal) and LVO( Large Veblen Ordinal) in fast growing hierarchy. For reference the above ordinals is way beyond gamma zero

    • @xenky2272
      @xenky2272 Год назад

      @@R3cce " In fact the number of times you would need to iterate the G function to beat it is TREE(3) itself" do you have any reference or explanation to this statement?

    • @bobibest89
      @bobibest89 Год назад

      ​@@R3cce It would be fun If someone does a video vizualization Tree(3)'s size. Similar to the videos that visualize the size of the Universe compared to a Plank length.

    • @shiinondogewalker2809
      @shiinondogewalker2809 Год назад

      @@xenky2272 he isn't exactly correct. for example if you iterate G function TREE(3) - 1 times you certainly get a larger number than TREE(3). he's right in the sense that you will be hard pressed to put a number using any meaningful algebra or combination of G functions to reach TREE(3). For example a number such as G(G(G(G(G(G(G(G(G(G(G(...(G64)...))))))))) where you have applied the G function G(64) number of times, is still nothing compared to TREE(3)

  • @NinjaPicnicers
    @NinjaPicnicers 7 лет назад +84

    "Grahams nunber is effectively zero compared to tree 3" very funny way to start a vid

    • @tim40gabby25
      @tim40gabby25 3 года назад

      'Effectively' zero should mean 'not zero' - or the 'effectively' is redundant?. or is one allowed different sorts of zeroes? Struggling with this one :)

    • @zenthichutt7071
      @zenthichutt7071 3 года назад +1

      @@tim40gabby25 "effectively zero" refers to the fact that grahams number is so unbelievably small compared to TREE(3) that it might as well be the same as 0 for all intents and purposes when you're on the scale of TREE(3)

    • @tim40gabby25
      @tim40gabby25 3 года назад

      @@zenthichutt7071 understood, thanks :)

  • @LunarDelta
    @LunarDelta 7 лет назад +52

    OMG I've been waiting years for you to cover this! Thank you!

  • @TarsonAlvarenga
    @TarsonAlvarenga Год назад +4

    Looking at these numbers makes you realize how scary eternity is, for example, when we talk about being immortal, literally immortal, no matter what happens you can't die, you could live Graham's number in years, TREE (3) in years, and still wouldn't have lived even a fraction of your entire life, not even close, you will live literally FOREVER, eternity is scary.

  • @KYZ__1
    @KYZ__1 Год назад +3

    Love both this and the extra footage video! I cannot explain the joy watching these big number videos brings me; I completely empathise with Tony's excitement 😄

  • @saintarkweather
    @saintarkweather 3 года назад +14

    3:30 when scientists discover humans originated in Ethiopia

  • @edzeppelin1984
    @edzeppelin1984 Год назад +5

    Looking at the sample trees for TREE(3), the fact that the function suddenly explodes after n=2 is maybe a little more intuitive than it first appears. Whatever colour you choose for the first tree cannot be used again in the sequence ever, so if you only have one or two to choose from to begin with, you're going to run out of options rapidly. But for n>2, you essentially have a "freebie" disposable seed for the first tree, and then all bets are off after that.

  • @Jeathetius
    @Jeathetius 7 лет назад +4

    What always fascinates me about large numbers is that they can have very different properties from small ones. Many of the properties of numbers we think about are found in small examples: we have small primes, small perfect numbers, etc. But there are (presumably) types of numbers where there aren’t any small examples, and which potentially exhibit behaviours very unlike any we are used to thinking about. This is kind of incredible thing: usually we conceptualizer large numbers as being like small ones, just bigger, but there may be ones that are very different.

  • @coreyburton8
    @coreyburton8 2 года назад +5

    I love rewatching this video

  • @cool-128
    @cool-128 4 месяца назад +3

    We need a digitally playable version of TREE(3)

  • @ashtabulareviews1800
    @ashtabulareviews1800 3 года назад +81

    I can actually imagine Tree (3) being mind-bogglingly huge.
    Because the third and fourth tree that you draw in Tree (3) game only cancels out a fraction of possibility for the fifth tree that you draw.
    And this fraction gets smaller with each tree in a logarithmic fraction. As the trees become more complex it becomes easier not to have that same arrangement in the next tree. So already without even being told that tree 3 is very huge, I can somehow imagine it being bigger than a trillion if that makes sense.

    • @ferociousfeind8538
      @ferociousfeind8538 3 года назад

      Ah ah, TREE(3) dwarfs all numbers in common use. "Bigger than a trillion" is an understatement. TREE(3) is so huge that mathematicians in the comments are having trouble explaining it to laypeople. If you were to take the number of atoms in the universe (a big number) and produce a billion-core, terraherz-speed supercomputer for each atom, computers so strong that they can effectively execute any arbitrary exponentiation a billion times every nanosecond, and set them all to work exponentiating 2 and passing their results to the next computer... (in short, if you imagine anything from real life, distorted within reasonable bounds...) they would reach the result of TREE(3) eventually given a stupidly large amount of time, but ONLY because TREE(3) technically isn't infinite. If you imagine that scenario, and then put a time limit on it, any time limit you want, and ask "can they reach or exceed the result of TREE(3)?" The answer would be a resounding "nope!"
      Crazy big number...

    • @SaladDongs
      @SaladDongs 2 года назад +4

      @@ferociousfeind8538 That's a fine explanation but can I ask, what does "reasonable bounds" mean? I mean I know kind of what it means, but how do you define what is reasonable? I've seen it a lot in these comments.

    • @ferociousfeind8538
      @ferociousfeind8538 2 года назад +3

      @@SaladDongs as in, as long as your answer isn't "I want to use TREE(3) computers to do it!" The answer will be "it will take an inconceivably long time to calculate the size of TREE(3)

    • @elgatitokawai55
      @elgatitokawai55 2 года назад +1

      of course it is bigger than a trillion dummy

    • @TheSpotify95
      @TheSpotify95 Год назад +7

      Tree(3) isn't just bigger than a trillion, it's bigger than Graham's Number!

  • @IDoNotLikeHandlesOnYT
    @IDoNotLikeHandlesOnYT 5 лет назад +17

    I like how he already sounds tired of its bigness as he goes to draw the very first tree of it at 6:15

  • @sadas3190
    @sadas3190 5 лет назад +2

    How to keep a toddler occupied: explain this game and give him 3 coloured crayons.

  • @conservaliberaltarian2753
    @conservaliberaltarian2753 3 года назад +15

    Mathematicians have what is considered an "extremely weak lower bound" for TREE(3). That number is greater than GG1, but less than GG2. In other words, it is greater than G of G1, but less than G of G2.

    • @DavenH
      @DavenH Год назад

      I've got an even weaker lower bound of 1

  • @drewsauveterre8867
    @drewsauveterre8867 7 лет назад +169

    Parker could've gotten TREE(2) up to 10.
    He would have used 4 colors though.

  • @jonathanwalther
    @jonathanwalther Год назад +4

    6:20 He starts drawing and knows, he will sit there myraids and myraids of millenia. How many brown sheets will he need?

  • @dylanrambow2704
    @dylanrambow2704 7 лет назад +22

    Other interesting questions I have:
    Is TREE(n) bounded?
    Is TREE(n)/TREE(n-1) bounded? Or even structured in any way?

    • @coyraig8332
      @coyraig8332 4 года назад +4

      TREE(n)/TREE(n-1) can't have n

    • @magicmulder
      @magicmulder 3 года назад +4

      1. You mean if there is a constant C so that TREE(n) < C for all n? No.
      2. Neither. Because of its growth hierarchy, this goes off to infinity too (even though every TREE(n) is finite).

    • @R3cce
      @R3cce Год назад +1

      @@magicmulder2 TREE(n) is bounded between the SVO and LVO in fast growing hierarchy

  • @donaldasayers
    @donaldasayers 7 лет назад +39

    I am confused by the Knuth triple down arrow notation in the description?

    • @JohnMichaelson
      @JohnMichaelson 7 лет назад +7

      I think it means "this way lies madness" as a warning not to try comprehending it.

  • @Brucebod
    @Brucebod 3 года назад +9

    You have a secret: Tree 1
    You tell another person: Tree 2
    You tell a second person: Tree 3

  • @BTheHeretic
    @BTheHeretic 7 лет назад +40

    And now. Number 3. The Larch.

  • @daleftuprightatsoldierfield
    @daleftuprightatsoldierfield 7 лет назад +53

    Which is bigger?
    G(TREE(3)) or TREE(Graham’s Number)?

    • @lamnguyen-uh4tz
      @lamnguyen-uh4tz 7 лет назад +38

      TREE(Graham’s Number) >> TREE(4) >> G(TREE(3))

    • @ethanhuyck4704
      @ethanhuyck4704 6 лет назад +17

      well, the tree function does grow faster than grahams number does with increasing iterations.

    • @mauricioubillusmarchena6660
      @mauricioubillusmarchena6660 6 лет назад +11

      G(TREE(3) is much much much much smaller than TREE(Graham's Number)

    • @keerthivasan5650
      @keerthivasan5650 5 лет назад +26

      Congrats! You've got a video!

    • @ValexNihilist
      @ValexNihilist 4 года назад +3

      They made a video answering it!

  • @Capt_N3mo
    @Capt_N3mo 5 лет назад +1

    You were being awfully cheeky there lol. Your explanation of TREE(2) and then the graphic of TREE(3) showing a node with 5 coming off THEN 4 coming off THEN 3 three coming off as a way of getting around the common ancestry. I saw that, thought about it for a second, then my head almost exploded. That is crazy!

  • @Mewtwo315
    @Mewtwo315 Год назад +3

    The definition of "that escalated quickly"

  • @Billybingo69
    @Billybingo69 4 года назад +3

    *Spends 6 minutes playing a math game* “So yeah, this number tree3 is so big”

  • @thepopboyuscl1682
    @thepopboyuscl1682 4 года назад +1

    TREE(3) is around between this two big numbers represented in BEAF. {10,100(1)2} & 10

  • @doubledarefan
    @doubledarefan 7 лет назад +176

    This must explain why I sometimes call 3 tree.
    One, two, tree, four...

    • @CaseyShontz
      @CaseyShontz 6 лет назад +6

      Double Dare Fan are you Irish by any chance

    • @gpt-jcommentbot4759
      @gpt-jcommentbot4759 4 года назад

      TREE(TREE) Aha!

    • @AHTOH2010
      @AHTOH2010 4 года назад

      tree it's 3 (три) in russian, lol

    • @liongames8776
      @liongames8776 4 года назад

      stop looking at my profile pic TREE(TREE(TREE))

    • @kp2k
      @kp2k 4 года назад

      its one, two, TREE(3), four

  • @harrycleland4477
    @harrycleland4477 5 лет назад +4

    Graham's Number is alot easier to understand than TREE(3) but TREE(3) is much cooler because it is WAY WAY WAY WAY bigger than Graham's Number and Graham's Number is already unimaginably huge!

  • @jialixx
    @jialixx 2 года назад +1

    Tree(3) is my favorite of all these giant numbers. It a proof of an old Chinese idiom: 1 generates 2; 2 generates 3; and 3 generates everything!

  • @thehiddenninja3428
    @thehiddenninja3428 5 лет назад +15

    The size of a tree(3) number of Planck volumes is unimaginably larger than if the entire observable universe were Graham's number times wider

  • @TheNethertyp
    @TheNethertyp 5 лет назад +4

    6:36 Could somebody explain why the 4th one isn't contained within the 6th? Both have 3 blacks and a red as a chain.

    • @deadmanrang
      @deadmanrang 4 месяца назад

      If you're talking about the 6th's left side, it could be also that we only trace it vertically, not on a V shape

  • @daniel.sandberg.5298
    @daniel.sandberg.5298 Месяц назад +1

    Most people have no clue how massive this is, and we cant tell them.

  • @Nino-eo8ey
    @Nino-eo8ey 4 года назад +3

    Friend: What's your favorite number?
    Me: Oh it's just Tree, nothing much.

  • @vikramanand2052
    @vikramanand2052 2 года назад +5

    I do not know the last digit of TREE(3), the first digit of TREE(3), or how many digits are in TREE(3).
    But I do know that 2 * arctan(TREE(3)) = 3.141592653589793 rounded to 15 decimal places.

  • @duffin3503
    @duffin3503 4 года назад +2

    I don’t understand, it was said that TREE(3) could only have 3 colors and 3 “seeds” every iteration, but in the examples on screen at 6:33 show way more seeds

  • @frenzy4709
    @frenzy4709 4 года назад +12

    Him: Tree(3) is so big! U can't imagine anything bigger!
    Me: Ok, so what about Tree(3)+1 ?

    • @lucasxue2031
      @lucasxue2031 4 года назад +1

      PhantomGaming
      Tree(tree(tree ........ (tree 3))
      Tree 3 times

    • @fakenightbot1880
      @fakenightbot1880 4 года назад +1

      TREE(3) is {3, 6, 3 [1 [2 \ 3 ¬ 1, 2] 2] 2}

    • @sarotarnin9923
      @sarotarnin9923 4 года назад +2

      I'm about to cry, I can't find a simple explanation for notations stronger than than Ackermann one

  • @syron7996
    @syron7996 7 лет назад +12

    But what if we play that game with Grahams cubes?
    With 1 color the upper bound is 1.
    With 2 colkrs it is already g(12) (mich smaller than G(64) but still huge).
    And with 3 colors?

  • @actionchaplain1
    @actionchaplain1 3 года назад +2

    Tony Padilla is on fire here.

  • @adsjsh
    @adsjsh 4 года назад +18

    This weirdly mirrors chemistry with simple carbon compounds [ Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen ]

    • @somethingismissing1482
      @somethingismissing1482 4 года назад +1

      When you look at the trees you notice they are actually only using two colors, because they need to use one in the first step and then can never use that again. And the second one where they use one color two times is another huge reduction of possibilities...chemistry (I dont know much about molecules) I think actually likes to reuse earlier structures?

  • @phampton6781
    @phampton6781 7 лет назад +22

    6:48 Very gladdening to hear a mathematician describe a number's bigness as "really really really really really really really really ...... "

  • @Hedning1390
    @Hedning1390 5 лет назад +2

    At 6:38 isn't the 3rd contained in 5,6,7,8,9,10 and 12?

  • @Cattivone
    @Cattivone Год назад +5

    I know tree(3) is already so ridicolously huge that cannot be processed but I wonder... do we have an idea on "how quickly this function grows"?
    I mean, what is the growth rate from tree(3) to tree(4)? Is the difference somehow proportional to the distance we have from tree(2) to tree(3)? Is it growing much faster? Does someone has an idea and does this really matters since tree(3) is already out of every scale?

    • @R3cce
      @R3cce Год назад

      TREE(4) is even bigger than putting TREE(3) in the repeated G sequence namely GGG…..G(TREE(3)) with TREE(3) number of G’s
      This shows how insane the function grows! 🤯

    • @R3cce
      @R3cce Год назад

      in the fast growing hierarchy it is between the SVO and LVO ordinals

  • @sternis1
    @sternis1 4 года назад +3

    "I can't express how really big it is. It's off the scale big"
    That's what he said.

  • @moiskithorn
    @moiskithorn 3 года назад +1

    "We're going to try to build a forest, one tree at a time."
    [Australia bushfires have entered the chat.]

  • @oferzilberman5049
    @oferzilberman5049 4 года назад +13

    Tree(1): I'm weak...
    Tree(2): I'm just 2 more than the weak one...
    Tree(3): Graham's number? Oh, You mean my younger brother?

    • @Rorschach003
      @Rorschach003 3 года назад

      Graham's Number? You mean that ant in my yard?

    • @yuuhemi
      @yuuhemi 3 года назад

      Graham's number? Do you mean that tiny cell in my body?

    • @SG2048-meta
      @SG2048-meta 3 года назад

      Tree(7): Graham’s number? oh you mean that atom through the microscope?

  • @magnusnilsson6217
    @magnusnilsson6217 5 лет назад +4

    I relatively recently discovered this channel.
    It has a great spirit!. TREE(3)...
    Thank you!

  • @patrickgroetsch4810
    @patrickgroetsch4810 2 года назад +1

    I still love that you can try picturing the numbers on a visual plane. still so impossible like grahams number. awesome!

  • @JikJunHa
    @JikJunHa Год назад +3

    Even Tree(Graham's Number) is closer to 0 than it is to infinity. Goes to show how big infinity really is. 😂

  • @realkevinyang
    @realkevinyang 4 года назад +7

    imagine the number "TREE(3)" representing the number of nodes allowed. So, TREE(TREE[3])

    • @ValexNihilist
      @ValexNihilist 4 года назад

      You need to stop.

    • @aronclaro2133
      @aronclaro2133 4 года назад

      What have you done

    • @AlbertKekstein
      @AlbertKekstein 4 года назад +1

      this Nummer would be SO big we couldnt even *Imagine* it i think

    • @mariafe7050
      @mariafe7050 3 года назад

      TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(TREE(3)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

    • @xenotronia6681
      @xenotronia6681 3 года назад

      @@AlbertKekstein we can't imagine this one either

  • @honeyfungus4774
    @honeyfungus4774 2 года назад +1

    Great video, I nearly understood what you're talking about.

  • @synx7149
    @synx7149 5 лет назад +24

    TREE(TREE(3))

  • @R3cce
    @R3cce 2 года назад +2

    TREE(3) can be beaten using beaf notation. It is most likely somewhere at the legion array notation. Although beaf is ill defined at this point

  • @alexzuma2025
    @alexzuma2025 25 дней назад +1

    the important rule of the tree function: the nth tree can't have more than n seeds.

  • @keeganturbitt1101
    @keeganturbitt1101 5 лет назад +18

    What about Tree(Graham's Number)

    • @GabrielFelix-zl4sq
      @GabrielFelix-zl4sq 5 лет назад +3

      Have fun

    • @magicmulder
      @magicmulder 5 лет назад +2

      Boring. Build a *novel* simple series where s(3) >>> TREE(3).

    • @merek6986
      @merek6986 4 года назад

      See the extra footage..

    • @keeganturbitt1101
      @keeganturbitt1101 4 года назад +1

      @@merek6986 ya I have. My comment was before the newer vid

  • @waterdragonlucas8263
    @waterdragonlucas8263 5 лет назад +7

    3:08 nearest COMMON ancestor! I get it!

  • @evilcookie7350
    @evilcookie7350 4 месяца назад +2

    TREE(2) actually has 4 possiblities where we first make a tree of 2 green nodes then one green node then two red nodes and then one red node

    • @Transcendentem
      @Transcendentem 4 месяца назад

      The nth tree can only be n nodes (maximum). Albeit your explanation does make sense, the first tree being 2 nodes doesn't work because of the first statement.

    • @evilcookie7350
      @evilcookie7350 2 месяца назад +1

      Oh thx forgot that part😅

  • @imagineexistance4538
    @imagineexistance4538 5 лет назад +9

    TREE(TREE(G(skews number)))
    Is my thought up number

  • @MrAaronCard
    @MrAaronCard 7 лет назад +9

    This was a let down as it did not, neither did the extra footage attempt to calculate the value of tree(3). Maybe a proof that g64

    • @whatno5090
      @whatno5090 6 лет назад +3

      There has been no attempt to calculate it. It is too big for that.

    • @whatno5090
      @whatno5090 6 лет назад +1

      In a sense, given a simple and consise calculation of a number, the probability that it will be Tree(3) is tiny because Tree(3) is so big; hence it is difficult to give it any defining features apart from this definition alone.

    • @r.a.6459
      @r.a.6459 5 лет назад

      To prove that it'll take tooooooooooooooooooooooo many A4 papers, like in the order of 10^100 A4 papers. Can't fit into our Universe

  • @oatmilk9545
    @oatmilk9545 Год назад +1

    what a smart trick playing with 3 seeds is to use the 1st type of seed only to start the game and never use it again after that. so, basically, the game goes on only with 2 types of seed, giving us more of a tree(2) than (3), and it still heads somewhere to the infinity... now imagine what crazy horror starts when we ACTUALLY have 3 different types playing the Tree(4)

  • @owenloh9300
    @owenloh9300 7 лет назад +120

    what happens when the forest has a TREE-some
    sorry i suk at these

    • @Faren_
      @Faren_ 6 лет назад +3

      the door is over there

    • @TheMiels
      @TheMiels 6 лет назад +2

      I agree