Polyomino Area Magic Tori

A magic torus can be found with any magic square, as has already been demonstrated in the article "From the Magic Square to the Magic Torus". In fact, there are n² essentially different semi-magic or magic squares, displayed by every magic torus of order-n. Particularly interesting to observe with pandiagonal (or panmagic) examples, a magic torus can easily be represented by repeating the number cells of one of its magic square viewpoints outside its limits. However, once we begin to look at area magic squares, it becomes much less evident to visualise and construct the corresponding area magic tori using repeatable area cells, especially when the latter have to be irregular quadrilaterals... The following illustration shows a sketch of an area magic torus of order-3 that I created back in January 2017. I call it a sketch because it may be necessary to use consecutive areas starting from 2 or from 3, should the construction of an area magic torus of order-3, using consecutive areas from 1 to 9, prove to be impossible. And while it can be seen that such a torus is theoretically constructible, many calculations will be necessary to ensure that the areas are accurate, and that the irregular quadrilateral cells can be assembled with precision:

At the time discouraged by the complications of such geometries, I decided to suspend the research of area magic tori. But since the invention of area magic squares, other authors have introduced some very interesting polyomino versions that open new perspectives: 

On the 20th May 2021, Morita Mizusumashi (盛田みずすまし @nosiika) tweeted a nice polyomino area magic square of order-3 constructed with 9 assemblies of 5 to 13 monominoes. On the 21st May 2021, Yoshiaki Araki (面積魔方陣がテセレーションみたいな件 @alytile) tweeted several order-4 and order-3 solutions in a polyomino area magic square thread. These included (amongst others) an order-4 example constructed with 16 assemblies of 5 to 20 dominoes. On the 24th May 2021, Yoshiaki Araki then tweeted an order-3 polyomino area magic square constructed using 9 assemblies of 1 to 9 same-shaped pentominoes! Edo Timmermans, the author of this beautiful square, had apparently been inspired by Yoshiaki Araki's previous posts! Since the 22nd June 2021, Inder Taneja has also published a paper entitled "Creative Magic Squares: Area Representations" in which he studies polyomino area magic using perfect square magic sums.

Intention and Definition

The intention of the present article is to explore the use of polyominoes for area magic torus construction, with the objective of facilitating the calculation and verification of the cell areas, while avoiding the geometric constraints of irregular quadrilateral assemblies. Here, it is useful to give a definition of a polyomino area magic torus:

1/ In the diagram of the torus, the entries of the cells of each column, row, and of at least two intersecting diagonals, will add up to the same magic sum. The intersecting magic diagonals can be offset or broken, as the area magic torus has a limitless surface, and can therefore display semi-magic square viewpoints.

2/ Each cell will have an area in proportion to its number. The different areas will be represented by tiling with same-shaped holeless polyominoes.

3/ The cells can be of any regular or irregular rectangular shape that results from their holeless tiling. 

4/ Depending on the order-n of the area magic torus, each cell will have continuous edge connections with contiguous cells (and these connections can be wrap-around, because the torus diagram represents a limitless curved surface).

5/ The vertex meeting points of four cells can only take place at four convex (i.e. 270° exterior  angled) vertices of each of the cells.

Polyomino Area Magic Tori (PAMT) of Order-3

Magic Torus index n° T3, of order-3. Magic sums = 15.
Please note that this is not a Polyomino Area Magic Torus,
but it is the Agrippa "Saturn" magic square, after a rotation of +90°, in Frénicle standard form.

Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of order-3. Magic sums = 15. Tetrominoes.
Consecutively numbered areas 1 to 9, in an irregular rectangular shape of 180 units.

Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of Order-3. Magic sums = 18. Trominoes.
Consecutively numbered areas 2 to 10, in an irregular rectangular shape of 162 units.

Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of order-3. Magic sums = 24. Trominoes.
Consecutively numbered areas 4 to 12, in an oblong 12 ⋅ 18 = 216 units.

Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of Order-3. Magic sums = 36. Trominoes Version 1.
Square 18 ⋅ 18 = 324 units.

Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of Order-3. Magic sums = 36. Trominoes Version 2.
Square 18 ⋅ 18 = 324 units.

Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of Order-3. Magic sums = 60. Pentominoes Version 1.
Square 30 ⋅ 30 = 900 units.

Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of order-3. Magic sums = 24. Monominoes.
Consecutively numbered areas 4 to 12, in an irregular rectangular shape of 72 units.

Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of order-3. Magic sums = 27. Monominoes Version 1.
Consecutively numbered areas 5 to 13, in a square 9 ⋅ 9 = 81 units.

Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of order-3. Magic sums = 27. Monominoes Version 2.
Consecutively numbered areas 5 to 13, in a square 9 ⋅ 9 = 81 units.

Polyomino Area Magic Tori (PAMT) of Order-4

Magic Torus index n° T4.198, of order-4. Magic sums = 34.
Please note that this is not a Polyomino Area Magic Torus,
but it is a pandiagonal torus represented by a pandiagonal square that has Frénicle index n° 107.

The pandiagonal torus above displays 16 Frénicle indexed magic squares n° 107, 109, 171, 204, 292, 294, 355, 396, 469, 532, 560, 621, 691, 744, 788, and 839. It is entirely covered by 16 sub-magic 2x2 squares. The torus is self-complementary and has the magic torus complementary number pattern I. The even-odd number pattern is P4.1. This torus is extra-magic with 16 extra-magic nodal intersections of 4 magic lines. It displays pandiagonal Dudeney I Nasik magic squares. It is classified with a Magic Torus index n° T4.198, and is of Magic Torus type n° T4.01.2. Also, when compared with its two pandiagonal torus cousins of order-4, the unique Magic Torus T4.198 of the Multiplicative Magic Torus MMT4.01.1 is distinguished by its total self-complementarity.

Pandiagonal Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of order-4. Magic sums = 34. Pentominoes.
Index PAMT4.198, Version 1, Viewpoint 1/16, displaying Frénicle magic square index n° 107.
Consecutively numbered areas 1 to 16, in an oblong 34 ⋅ 20 = 680 units.

Pandiagonal Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of order-4. Magic sums = 50. Dominoes.
Version 1, Viewpoint 1/16.
Consecutively numbered areas 5 to 20, in a square 20 ⋅ 20 = 400 units.

Pandiagonal Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of Order-4. Sums = 50. Dominoes.
Version 1, Viewpoint 16/16.
Consecutively numbered areas 5 to 20, in an irregular rectangular shape of 400 units.

Polyomino Area Magic Tori (PAMT) of Order-5

Pandiagonal Torus type n° T5.01.00X of order-5. Magic sums = 65.
Please note that this is not a Polyomino Area Magic Torus.

This pandiagonal torus of order-5 displays 25 pandiagonal magic squares. It is a direct descendant of the T3 magic torus of order-3, as demonstrated in page 49 of "Magic Torus Coordinate and Vector Symmetries" (MTCVS). In "Extra-Magic Tori and Knight Move Magic Diagonals" it is shown to be an Extra-Magic Pandiagonal Torus Type T5.01 with 6 Knight Move Magic Diagonals. Note that when centred on the number 13, the magic square viewpoint becomes associative. The torus is classed under type n° T5.01.00X (provisional number), and is one of 144 pandiagonal or panmagic tori type 1 of order-5 that display 3,600 pandiagonal or panmagic squares. On page 72 of "Multiplicative Magic Tori" it is present within the type MMT5.01.00x.

Pandiagonal Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of order-5. Magic sums = 65. Hexominoes.
Index PAMT5.01.00X, Version 1, Viewpoint 1/25.
Consecutively numbered areas 1 to 25, in an oblong 65 ⋅ 30 = 1950 units.

Pandiagonal Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of Order-5. Magic sums = 125. Monominoes.
Version 1, Viewpoint 1/25.
Consecutively numbered areas 13 to 37, in a square 25 ⋅ 25 = 625 units.

Pandiagonal Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of Order-5. Magic sums = 125. Monominoes.
Version 2, Viewpoint 1/25.
Consecutively numbered areas 13 to 37, in a square 25 ⋅ 25 = 625 units.

Polyomino Area Magic Tori (PAMT) of Order-6

Partially Pandiagonal Torus type n° T6 of order-6. Magic sums = 111.
Please note that this is not a Polyomino Area Magic Torus.

Harry White has kindly authorised me to use this order-6 magic square viewpoint. With a supplementary broken magic diagonal (24, 19, 31, 3, 5, 29), this partially pandiagonal torus displays 4 partially pandiagonal squares and 32 semi-magic squares. In "Extra-Magic Tori and Knight Move Magic Diagonals" it is shown to be an Extra-Magic Partially Pandiagonal Torus of Order-6 with 6 Knight Move Magic Diagonals. This is one of 2627518340149999905600 magic and semi-magic tori of order-6 (total deduced from findings by Artem Ripatti - see OEIS A271104 "Number of magic and semi-magic tori of order n composed of the numbers from 1 to n^2").

Partially Pandiagonal Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of order-6. Magic sums = 111.
Heptominoes, Version 1, Viewpoint 1/36.
Consecutively numbered areas 1 to 36, in an oblong 111 ⋅ 42 = 4662 units.

Partially Pandiagonal Polyomino Area Magic Torus (PAMT) of order-6. Sums = 147.
Dominoes, Version 1, Viewpoint 1/36.
Consecutively numbered areas 7 to 42, in a square 42 ⋅ 42 = 1764 units.

Observations

As they are the first of their kind, these Polyomino Area Magic Tori (PAMT) can most likely be improved: The examples illustrated above are all constructed with their cells aligned horizontally or vertically; and though it is convenient to do so, because it allows their representation as oblongs or squares, this method of constructing PAMT is not obligatory. Representations of PAMT that have irregular rectangular contours may well give better results, with less-elongated cells and simpler cell connections. 

While the use of polyominoes has the immense advantage of allowing the construction of area magic tori with easily quantifiable units, it also introduces the constraint of the tiling of the cells. It has been seen in the examples above that the PAMT can be represented as oblongs or as squares, while other irregular rectangular solutions also exist. A normal magic square of order-3 displays the numbers 1 to 9 and has a total of 45, which is not a perfect square. As the smallest addition to each of the nine numbers 1 to 9, in order to reach a perfect square total is four (45 + 9 ⋅ 4 = 81), this implies that when searching for a square PAMT with consecutive areas of 1 to 9, in theory the smallest polyominoes for this purpose will be pentominoes.

But to date, in the various shaped examples of PAMT shown above, the smallest cell area used to represent the area 1 is a tetromino, as this gives sufficient flexibility for the connections of a nine-cell PAMT of order-3 with consecutive areas of 1 to 9. Edo Timmermans has already constructed a Polyomino Area Magic Square of order-3 using pentominoes for the consecutive areas of 1 to 9, but it seems that such polyominoes cannot be used for the construction of a same-sized and shaped PAMT of order-3. Straight polyominoes are always used in the examples given above, as these facilitate long connections, but other polyomino shapes will in some cases be possible.

We should keep in mind that the PAMT are theoretical, in that, per se, they cannot tile a torus: As a consequence of Carl Friedrich Gauss's "Theorema Egregium", and because the Gaussian curvature of the torus is not always zero, there is no local isometry between the torus and a flat surface: We can't flatten a torus without distortion, which therefore makes a perfect map of that torus impossible. Although we can create conformal maps that preserve angles, these do not necessarily preserve lengths, and are not ideal for our purpose. And while two topological spheres are conformally equivalent, different topologies of tori can make these conformally distinct and lead to further mapping complications. For those wishing to know more, the paper by Professor John M. Sullivan, entitled "Conformal Tiling on a Torus", makes excellent reading.

Notwithstanding their theoreticality, the PAMT nevertheless offer an interesting field of research that transcends the complications of tiling doubly-curved torus surfaces, while suggesting interesting patterns for planar tiling: For those who are not convinced by 9-colour tiling, 2-colour pandiagonal tiling can also be a good choice for geeky living spaces:

Tiling with irregular rectangular shaped PAMT of order-3. Monominoes. S=24.

Tiling with irregular rectangular shaped PAMT of order-3. Tetrominoes. S=15.

Tiling with irregular rectangular shaped PAMT of order-3. Trominoes. S=18.

Tiling with oblong PAMT of order-3. Trominoes. S=24.

Tiling with oblong pandiagonal PAMT of order-4. Pentominoes. S=34.

Tiling with oblong pandiagonal PAMT of order-5. Hexominoes. S=65.

Tiling with square pandiagonal PAMT of order-5. Monominoes. S=125.

Tiling with oblong partially pandiagonal PAMT of order-6. Heptominoes. S=111.

Tiling with square partially pandiagonal PAMT of order-6. Dominoes. S=147.

There are still plenty of other interesting PAMT that remain to be found, and I hope you will authorise me to publish or relay your future discoveries and suggestions!

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List of the 880 Frénicle Magic Squares of Order-4

Bernard Frénicle de Bessy was the first to determine that there were 880 essentially different magic squares of order-4, and his findings were published posthumously in the "Table Générale des Quarrez Magiques de Quatre," in 1693.

Title of Frénicle's study of magic squares published in 1693

The "Table Générale des Quarrez Magiques de Quatre" published in 1693

It was more than 300 years later, that it was discovered that these 880 magic squares of order-4 were displayed on 255 magic tori of order-4. At first listed by type in 2011, the 255 magic tori of order-4 were later given additional index numbers in a "Table of Fourth-Order Magic Tori" in 2012. In 2019 some of the magic tori of order-4 were found to be extra-magic, with nodal intersections of 4 or more magic lines and / or knight move magic diagonals. Other studies of the magic tori of order-4 have included sub-magic 2 x 2 squares (in 2013), magic torus complementary number patterns (in 2017), and even and odd number patterns (in 2019). Then after a gap of 5 years, the magic tori have been found to belong to 137 plus or minus groups (in 2024).

It has become increasingly important to provide an easily accessible document that recapitulates these different findings. I have therefore compiled the following "List of the 880 Frénicle Indexed Magic Squares of Order-4," with their corresponding Dudeney types and also full details of the magic tori:

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Even and Odd Number Patterns on Magic Tori of Orders 3 and 4

Ancient references to the pattern of even and odd numbers of the 3 × 3 magic square appear in the "I Ching" or "Yih King" (Book of Changes). In the introduction to the Chou edition, the scroll of the river Loh or "Loh-Shu", which is represented by the magic square of order-3, is written with black dots (the yin symbol and emblem of earth) for the even numbers, and white dots (the yang symbol and emblem of heaven) for the odd numbers. The "Loh-Shu" is incorporated in the writings of Ts'ai Yuän-Ting who lived from 1135 to 1198:

The Scroll of Loh, according to Ts'ai Yüang-Ting

A normal magic torus (or magic square) of order-n uses consecutive numbers from 1 to n² and consequently, for the order-3, the magic constant (MC) = 15. The Loh-Shu Magic Torus of Order-3 is presented below, together with its corresponding even and odd number pattern P3:

The "Loh-Shu" Magic Torus of Order-3 and its Even and Odd Number (x mod 2) Pattern P3

The magic torus T3 of order-3 is shown here as seen from the Scroll of Loh magic square viewpoint.

The even and odd number pattern P3 has reflection symmetry (with 6 lines of symmetry); rotational symmetry (of order 4); and point symmetry (over number 5, between numbers 3 and 7, between numbers 1 and 9, and between numbers 4, 6, 2, and 8).

The Even and Odd Number Patterns of the Magic Tori of Order-4

Only consecutively numbered magic tori (with numbers from 1 to n²) are studied here, and therefore, for order-4, the magic constant MC = 34.

The "Table of Fourth-Order Magic Tori" lists and describes each magic torus of order-4 using index numbers, while "255 Fourth-Order Magic Tori, and 1 Third-Order Magic Torus" gives a group categorisation of the magic tori of order-4 using type numbers. Both of these classifications give the details of the Frénicle indexed magic squares that are displayed by each torus.

In the study that follows it can be seen that there are 4 essentially different even and odd number patterns on the magic tori of order-4:

The Order-4 Even and Odd Number Pattern P4.1
(represented by the pandiagonal torus T4.198)

The Pandiagonal Torus T4.198 of Order-4 and its Even and Odd Number (x mod 2) Pattern P4.1

The pandiagonal torus of order-4 (with index n° T4.198 and type n° T4.01.2) is shown here as seen from the Frénicle n° 107 magic square viewpoint.

The even and odd number pattern P4.1 has reflection symmetry (with 6 lines of symmetry); rotational symmetry (of order 2); and multiple point symmetry when reading as a torus. The pattern P4.1 also has negative symmetry (evens to odds and vice versa).

The even and odd number pattern P4.1 concerns 79 out of the 255 magic tori, and 404 out of the 880 magic squares of order-4. These include the 3 pandiagonal tori that display 48 pandiagonal squares; 30 semi-pandiagonal tori that display 240 semi-pandiagonal squares; 12 partially pandiagonal tori that display 48 partially pandiagonal squares; and also 34 basic magic tori that display 68 basic magic squares.

The Order-4 Even and Odd Number Pattern P4.2
(represented by the semi-pandiagonal torus T4.059)

The Semi-Pandiagonal Torus T4.059 of Order-4 and its Even and Odd Number (x mod 2) Pattern P4.2

The semi-pandiagonal torus of order-4 (with index n° T4.059 and type n° T4.02.2.01) is shown here as seen from the Frénicle n° 21 magic square viewpoint.

The even and odd number pattern P4.2 has reflection symmetry (with 8 lines of symmetry); rotational symmetry (of order 4); and multiple point symmetry when reading as a torus. The pattern P4.2 also has negative symmetry (evens to odds and vice versa).

The even and odd number pattern P4.2 concerns 72 out of the 255 magic tori, and 256 out of the 880 magic squares of order-4. These include 18 semi-pandiagonal tori that display 144 semi-pandiagonal squares; 6 partially pandiagonal tori that display 16 partially pandiagonal squares; and also 48 basic magic tori that display 96 basic magic squares.

The Order-4 Even and Odd Number Pattern P4.3
(represented by the partially pandiagonal torus T4.186)

The Partially Pandiagonal Torus T4.186 of Order-4 and its Even and Odd Number (x mod 2) Pattern P4.3

The partially pandiagonal torus (with index n° T4.186 and type n° T4.03.1.3) is shown here as seen from the Frénicle n° 100 magic square viewpoint.

The even and odd number pattern P4.3 has reflection symmetry (with 8 lines of symmetry); rotational symmetry (of order 4); and multiple point symmetry when reading as a torus. The pattern P4.3 also has negative symmetry (evens to odds and vice versa).

The even and odd number pattern P4.3 concerns 16 out of the 255 magic tori, and 44 out of the 880 magic squares of order-4. These include 6 partially pandiagonal tori that display 24 partially pandiagonal squares; and also 10 basic magic tori that display 20 basic magic squares.

The Order-4 Even and Odd Number Pattern P4.4
(represented by the basic magic torus T4.062)

The Basic Magic Torus T4.062 of Order-4 and its Even and Odd Number (x mod 2) Pattern P4.4

The basic magic torus (with index n° T4.062 and type n° T4.05.1.12) is shown here as seen from the Frénicle n° 37 magic square viewpoint.

The even and odd number pattern P4.4 has reflection symmetry (with 8 lines of symmetry); rotational symmetry (of order 2); and multiple point symmetry when reading as a torus. The pattern P4.4 also has negative symmetry (evens to odds and vice versa).

The even and odd number pattern P4.4 concerns 88 out of the 255 magic tori, and 176 out of the 880 magic squares of order-4. All of these 88 magic tori and the displayed 176 magic squares are basic magic.

Observations on the Even and Odd Number Patterns of the Magic Tori and Magic Squares of Order-4

The findings of the even and odd number patterns of the magic tori of order-4 are recapitulated and analysed in comparative tables, (together with the Dudeney complementary number patterns and the Magic Torus self-complementary and paired complementary number patterns), in the file below:

The Even and Odd Number Patterns of the Semi-Magic Tori of Order-4

Only consecutively numbered semi-magic tori (with numbers from 1 to n²) are studied here, and consequently, for the order-4, the magic constant MC = 34.

In "255 Fourth-Order Magic Tori, and 1 Third-Order Magic Torus" the 4,038 semi-magic tori of order-4 have been sorted, and type numbers have been attributed taking into account the arrangements of their magic diagonals (if any). 

Each of the four even and odd number patterns already found above on the magic tori of order-4, also occur on semi-magic tori of order-4. For example, from left to right below, we find a semi-magic torus type T4.08.0W with pattern P4.1; a semi-magic torus type T4.08.0X with pattern P4.2; a semi-magic torus type T4.07.0Y with pattern P4.3; and a semi-magic torus type T4.09.00Z with pattern P4.4:

Semi-Magic Tori of Order-4 with Even and Odd Number (x mod 2) Patterns P4.1, P4.2, P4.3 and P4.4

The even and odd number patterns P4.1 to P4.4 are not the only ones that can be found, but the patterns which are specific to the semi-magic tori of order-4 have neither been fully investigated nor precisely counted, and the examples that follow only represent some of the different varieties.

The Order-4 Even and Odd Number Pattern P4.5
(represented by the semi-magic torus type T4.06.0A)

The Semi-Magic Torus type T4.06.0A of Order-4 and its Even and Odd Number (x mod 2) Pattern P4.5

This semi-magic torus type n° T4.06.0A was found by Walter Trump, and has been previously illustrated in "255 Fourth-Order Magic Tori, and 1 Third-Order Magic Torus".

The even and odd number pattern P4.5 has diagonal reflection symmetry (with 4 lines of symmetry); and negative (evens to odds and vice versa) rotational symmetry (of order 2). The blocks of even and odd numbers are translations of each other.

The Order-4 Even and Odd Number Pattern P4.6
(represented by the semi-magic torus type T4.07.0A)

The Semi-Magic Torus type T4.07.0A of Order-4 and its Even and Odd Number (x mod 2) Pattern P4.6

This semi-magic torus type n° T4.07.0A was found by Walter Trump, and has been previously illustrated in "255 Fourth-Order Magic Tori, and 1 Third-Order Magic Torus".

The even and odd number pattern P4.6 has reflection symmetry (with 4 lines of symmetry); rotational symmetry (of order 2); and multiple point symmetry when reading as a torus. The blocks of even and odd numbers are translations of each other.

The Order-4 Even and Odd Number Pattern P4.7
(represented by the semi-magic torus type T4.09.00M)

The Semi-Magic Torus type T4.09.00M of Order-4 and its Even and Odd Number (x mod 2) Pattern P4.7

This semi-magic torus type n° T4.09.00M was found by Walter Trump, and has been previously illustrated in "255 Fourth-Order Magic Tori, and 1 Third-Order Magic Torus".

The even and odd number pattern P4.7 has both positive and negative reflection symmetry; negative rotational symmetry (of order 2); and multiple negative point symmetry when reading as a torus. The blocks of even and odd numbers are translations of each other.

The Order-4 Even and Odd Number Pattern P4.8
(represented by the semi-magic torus type T4.10.000X)

The Semi-Magic Torus type T4.10.000X of Order-4 and its Even and Odd Number (x mod 2) Pattern P4.8

3,726 semi-magic tori of the type 10 have been found by Walter Trump, and his findings are detailed in "255 Fourth-Order Magic Tori, and 1 Third-Order Magic Torus".

The T4.10.000X's even and odd number pattern P4.8 has negative reflection symmetry (2 lines of symmetry); negative rotational symmetry (of order 2); and multiple point symmetry when reading as a torus. The blocks of even and odd numbers are translations of each other.

General Observations

The "Table of Fourth-Order Magic Tori" has been revised to include the even and odd number pattern references for each of the magic tori of order-4 (listed together with the Frénicle indexed magic squares that each magic torus displays).

Other interesting websites that examine, but do not enumerate, the different even and odd number patterns on magic squares of order-4, include "4x4 Magic Squares" by Dan Rhett and "Pattern in Magic Squares" by Vipul Chaskar.

A brief look at higher-orders suggests that the order-5 has many irregular patterns; the order-6 has many patterns with negative reflection symmetry (evens to odds and vice versa); the order-7 has many patterns with rotational symmetry; and the order-8 has patterns very like those of the order-4 examined above. All of these orders merit an in-depth analysis of their even and odd number patterns.

In conclusion, it is interesting to note that the Arab mathematicians of the tenth century constructed odd-order magic squares with striking even and odd number patterns (as for example the magic squares in figures b44 and b49 on pages 243 and 248 of Magic Squares in the Tenth Century: Two Arabic treatises by Anṭākī and Būzjānī, translated by Jacques Sesiano). And in the same context, Paul Michelet has recently brought to my attention a magnificent 15 x 15 magic square by Ali b. Ahmad al-Anṭākī (d. 987). Al-Anṭākī's bordered magic square is solid evidence of the Middle Eastern mathematicians' mastery of even and odd number patterns!

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