Sunday, 4 May 2014

Ramanujan's genius (L) was discovered by Hardy (R)


At a very young age Ramanujan designed the following formula for a 3 by 3 magic square:

C+Q | A+P | B+R
A+R | B+Q | C+P
B+P | C+R | A+Q

where A,B,C are integers in arithmetic progression and so are P,Q,R.



Rewriting Ramanujan's scheme somewhat to 

2Q+R|2P+2R|P+Q
2P|P+Q+R|2Q+2R
P+Q+2R|2Q|2P+R

where P,Q,R are in the Rationals, it is clear that every (P,Q,R) yields a magic square with constant number 3 (P + Q + R).


I conjecture that for any 3 by 3 magic square a triple (P,Q,R) can be found in the Rationals such that they fit the above scheme. Finding a proof for this is one of my 'problems'. Naturally, I would be very interested in any counter-example.

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