OFFSET
1,1
COMMENTS
This is basically three intertwined sequences:
triangular: 3*1, 3*4, 3*16, ... 3*4^n;
square: 4*1, 4*9, 4*81, ... 4*9^n;
hexagonal: 6*1, 6*7, 6*49, ... 6*7^n.
Each number in the above sequence has a particular geometric interpretation:
3: a single triangular tile
4: a single square tile
6: a single hexagonal tile
12 = 3*4 = triangle (three sides) * 4 tiles = one triangle in the center, with 3 equally sized triangles surrounding it;
36 = 4*9 = square (four sides) * 9 tiles = one square with 8 other similar copies surrounding it;
42 = 6*7 = hexagon (six sides) * 7 tiles = one hexagon with 6 other copies surrounding it.
Each number in the sequence has a prime factorization which uniquely determines whether it corresponds to a triangular, square or hexagonal tiling and the tiling's size. Factorization and rewriting into canonical form effectively becomes the inverse operation of "mixing" the three initial sequences.
LINKS
EXAMPLE
2058 = 6 * 7^3 = spiral honeycomb (hexagonal) mosaic of order 3, which is depicted in the linked image.
MATHEMATICA
With[{nn=40}, Take[Union[Flatten[Table[{3*4^Range[0, n], 4*9^Range[0, n], 6*7^Range[ 0, n]}, {n, nn}]]], nn]] (* Harvey P. Dale, Oct 20 2012 *)
CROSSREFS
KEYWORD
nonn,uned
AUTHOR
Declan Malone (declan.malone+sloane(AT)gmail.com), Apr 20 2008
EXTENSIONS
More terms from Harvey P. Dale, Oct 20 2012
STATUS
approved