# A result of Erdos: the multiplicative persistence of $n$ is at most $c\ln(\ln n)$

Multiply all the digits of a number $n$ by each other, repeating with the product until a single digit is obtained. The number of steps required is known as the multiplicative persistence of $n$.

According to http://mathworld.wolfram.com/MultiplicativePersistence.html, it was shown by Erdos that:

Ignoring all zeros, at most $c\ln(\ln n)$ steps are needed to reduce $n$ to a single digit, where $c$ depends on the base.

Where can I find a proof of this result?

Let the base be $B$. Suppose that you start with a number $n$ which has $d$ digits, so $n \geq B^d$. After you apply your operation, you get at most $(B-1)^d \leq n^\alpha$ for some $\alpha < 1$ (in fact, $\alpha = \log_B (B-1)$).
Form now a sequence $n_0 = n, n_1, \dots$, where $n_{i+1}$ is obtained from $n_i$ through the operation. We have seen that $\log_B n_{i+1} \leq \alpha \log_B n_i$, and so $\log_B n_t \leq \alpha^t \log_B n$. The process stops when $\log_B n_t < 1$, which happens when $\alpha^t < 1/(\log_B n)$. Taking another logarithm, we get the bound $t < \log_{1/\alpha} \log_B n$.