Monday, August 26, 2019

mathematics - How Many Undefined Magic Constants are there?


Magic Square: An nxn square where every horizontal,vertical, and diagonal line all add up to the same number.


Magic Constant: The number which every line with a magic square adds up to


So most magic squares, have a magic constant. But some do not. A fairly trivial answer is 0x0. Where no numbers are present, therefore it cannot sum up into any number.



A less than trivial answer but not complicated answer is 2x2. No possible configuration of 1,2,3,4 within a 2x2 block can have all lines add up to the same number. If it were possible it would theoretically be 5


So besides 0, and 2 are there any other positive dimensions for a magic square that do not have a magic constant? Technically making all possible configurations invalid magic squares?


Mathematical Proof is Appreciated!



Answer



From Wikipedia (my emphasis):



Normal magic squares of all sizes except 2 × 2 (that is, where n = 2) can be constructed. The 1 × 1 magic square, with only one cell containing the number 1, is trivial.



For a mathematical proof of this, see the Nrich article here. The idea is to turn an n x n square into a diamond (an n x n square standing on one corner), fill in that diamond with the numbers 1 to n^2 in the natural way, and then fold everything into the original square. Some pictures to demonstrate (also taken from the Nrich article):


3x3 case



5x5 case


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