Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Associative magic square

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit

An associative magic square is a magic square for which every pair of numbers symmetrically opposite to the center sum up to the same value.

Contents

3 × 3

The Lo Shu Square, the unique 3 × 3 normal magic square, is associative, and as such is the only 3 × 3 associative magic square. The square is shown below in Frénicle standard form. All rows, columns and diagonals sum to 15 and all pairs symmetrically opposite the center sum to 10.

4 × 4

There are, up to rotation and reflection, 48 distinct 4 × 4 associative magic squares, four of which are given here.

5 × 5

There are 48,544 distinct 5 × 5 associative magic squares, up to rotation and reflection, such as the two below.

Larger sizes

There are no 6 × 6 (or 10 × 10) associative magic squares. Other than when there are none the precise number of associative magic squares at sizes bigger than 5 × 5 is unknown. The following table, due to Walter Trump, gives the sizes up to 10, followed by examples of 7 × 7 and 8 × 8 tables.

References

Associative magic square Wikipedia