Magic square of squares

Unsolved problem in mathematics

Is it possible to construct a three-by-three magic square from nine distinct integer squares?

More unsolved problems in mathematics

The magic square of squares is an unsolved problem in mathematics which asks whether it is possible to construct a three-by-three magic square, the elements of which are all square numbers. The problem was first posed anonymously by Martin LaBar in 1984, before being included in Richard Guy's Unsolved problems in number theory (2nd edition) in 1994. ^[1]

The problem is a popular choice for recreational mathematicians, and multiple prizes have been offered for the first solution. ^[2]

Background

Main article: Magic square

The smallest (and unique up to rotation and reflection) non-trivial case of a magic square, order 3

A magic square is a square array of integer numbers in which each row, column and diagonal sums to the same number. ^[3] The order of the square refers to the number of integers along each side. ^[4] A trivial magic square is a magic square which has at least one repeated element, and a semimagic square is a magic square in which the rows and columns, but not both diagonals sum to the same number.

Problem

The problem asks whether it is possible to construct a third-order magic square such that every element is itself a square number. ^[5] A square which solves the problem would thus be of the form

${\displaystyle x_{1}^{2}}$	${\displaystyle x_{2}^{2}}$	${\displaystyle x_{3}^{2}}$
${\displaystyle x_{4}^{2}}$	${\displaystyle x_{5}^{2}}$	${\displaystyle x_{6}^{2}}$
${\displaystyle x_{7}^{2}}$	${\displaystyle x_{8}^{2}}$	${\displaystyle x_{9}^{2}}$

and satisfy the following equations ^[6]

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}x_{1}^{2}+x_{2}^{2}+x_{3}^{2}&=x_{4}^{2}+x_{5}^{2}+x_{6}^{2}\\&=x_{7}^{2}+x_{8}^{2}+x_{9}^{2}\\&=x_{1}^{2}+x_{5}^{2}+x_{9}^{2}\\&=x_{3}^{2}+x_{5}^{2}+x_{7}^{2}\\&=x_{1}^{2}+x_{4}^{2}+x_{7}^{2}\\&=x_{2}^{2}+x_{5}^{2}+x_{8}^{2}\\&=x_{3}^{2}+x_{6}^{2}+x_{9}^{2}\end{aligned}}}$

Current research

It has been shown that the problem is equivalent to several other problems. ^[1]

1. Do there exist three arithmetic progressions such that each has three terms, each has the same difference between terms as the other two, the terms are all perfect squares, and the middle terms of the three arithmetic progressions themselves form an arithmetic progression?
2. Do there exist three rational right triangles with the same area, such that the squares of the hypotenuses are in arithmetic progression?
3. Does there exist an elliptic curve, ${\displaystyle y^{2}=x^{3}-n^{2}x}$, where ${\displaystyle n}$ is a congruent number, with three rational points on the curve, ${\displaystyle (x_{1},y_{1})}$, ${\displaystyle (x_{2},y_{2})}$, ${\displaystyle (x_{3},y_{3})}$, such that each point is "double" another rational point on the curve ("double" in the sense of the group structure for points on an elliptic curve), and ${\displaystyle x_{1}}$, ${\displaystyle x_{2}}$ and ${\displaystyle x_{3}}$ are in arithmetic progression?

Brute force searches for solutions have been unsuccessful, and suggest that if a solution exists, it would consist of numbers greater than at least ${\displaystyle 10^{14}}$. ^[7]

Rice University professor of mathematics Anthony Várilly-Alvarado has expressed his doubt as to the existence of the magic square of squares. ^[6]

Notable attempts

There have been a number of attempts to construct a magic square of squares by recreational mathematicians.

Gardner's Attempt

Recreational mathematician Martin Gardner attempted to produce a solution to the problem, creating a non-trivial semimagic square of squares. In his solution, the diagonal 127² + 113² + 97² sums to 38307, not 21609 as for all the other rows and columns, and the other diagonal. ^{[8] [9] [10]}

	1272	462	582	21609
	22	1132	942	21609
	742	822	972	21609
21609	21609	21609	21609	38307

Parker square

The Parker square ^[11] is an attempt by Matt Parker to solve the problem. His solution is a trivial, semimagic square of squares, as ${\displaystyle 29^{2}}$ and ${\displaystyle 1^{2}}$ both appear twice, and the diagonal ${\displaystyle 23^{2}+37^{2}+47^{2}}$ sums to 4107, instead of 3051. ^[12]

The Parker Square, with sums shown in bold.

	292	12	472	3051
	412	372	12	3051
	232	412	292	3051
4107	3051	3051	3051	3051

Non third-order magic squares of squares

Magic squares of squares of orders greater than 3 have been known since as early as 1770, when Leonard Euler sent a letter to Joseph-Louis Lagrange detailing a fourth-order magic square. ^[10]

Euler's magic square of squares

682	292	412	372
172	312	792	322
592	282	232	612
112	772	82	492

Multimagic squares are magic squares which remain magic after raising every element to some power. In 1890, Georges Pfeffermann published a solution to a problem he posed involving the construction of an eighth-order 2-multimagic square. ^[13]

Pfeffermann's eighth order 2-multimagic square ^[14]

	56	34	8	57	18	47	9	31	260
	33	20	54	48	7	29	59	10	260
	26	43	13	23	64	38	4	49	260
	19	5	35	30	53	12	46	60	260
	15	25	63	2	41	24	50	40	260
	6	55	17	11	36	58	32	45	260
	61	16	42	52	27	1	39	22	260
	44	62	28	37	14	51	21	3	260
260	260	260	260	260	260	260	260	260	260

References

1. Robertson, John P. (1996-10-01). "Magic Squares of Squares". Mathematics Magazine. 69 (4): 289–293. doi:10.1080/0025570X.1996.11996457. ISSN   0025-570X.
2. "Can You Solve a Puzzle Unsolved Since 1996?". Scientific American . October 2014.
3. Schwartzman, Steven (1994). The Words of Mathematics: An Etymological Dictionary of Mathematical Terms Used in English. MAA. p. 130.
4. Wolfram MathWorld: Magic Square Weisstein, Eric W.
5. LaBar, Martin (January 1984). "Problems". College Mathematics Journal. 15: 68–74. doi:10.1080/00494925.1984.11972754 (inactive 12 July 2025). Retrieved 6 June 2025.
6. Várilly-Alvarado, Anthony; et al. (Numberphile). Magic Squares of Squares (are PROBABLY impossible) - Numberphile – via YouTube.
7. Boyer, Christian. "Latest research on the "3x3 magic square of squares" problem". Multimagie.com. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
8. Gardner, Martin (January 1996). "The magic of 3x3" (PDF). Quantum. 6 (3): 24–26. ISSN   1048-8820 . Retrieved 6 January 2024.
9. Gardner, Martin (March 1996). "The latest magic" (PDF). Quantum. 6 (4): 60. ISSN   1048-8820 . Retrieved 6 January 2024.
10. Boyer, Christian (12 November 2008). "Some Notes on the Magic Squares of Squares Problem". The Mathematical Intelligencer. 27 (2): 52–64. doi:10.1007/BF02985794.
11. Cain, Onno (2019). "Gaussian Integers, Rings, Finite Fields, and the Magic Square of Squares". arXiv: 1908.03236 [math.RA]. Some 'near misses' have been found such as the Parker Square [2]
12. Matt Parker; et al. (Numberphile) (April 18, 2016). The Parker Square - Numberphile . Retrieved June 6, 2025– via YouTube.
13. Boyer, Christian. "Bimagic squares". Multimagie.com. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
14. Boyer, Christian. "Solution of the first bimagic square, 8th-order, of Pfeffermann". Multimagie.com. Retrieved 6 June 2025.