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IRJMST Vol 6 Issue 2 [Year 2015] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print)

ALGEBRAIC STRUCTURE OF MAGIC SQUARES

Ms. Rupali and Anuradha Sabharwal


Assistant Professor, Maharaja Agrasen College, University of Delhi

Assistant Professor, ARSD College, University of Delhi

Abstract:

This Paper aims to explore the Algebraic Structure of magic squares and Magic squares application in
Daily life. We explore further some of the Matrix properties of Magic squares and see some sort of link
between magic squares and mathematical puzzles .In doing this, different types of magic squares will be
investigated and the methods used to construct them. How magic squares have evolved and where they
originally came from should also be considered. We will see some sort of link between magic squares
and mathematical puzzles.

Keywords:

Magic squares, Vector Spaces, Groups, Rings, Eigenvalues, Eigenvectors, Spectral Radius.

Introduction

For many centuries numbers have been considered by some peoples to be endowed with various magic
powers. Certain numbers were considered to have special properties. The number four, for example,
often represented the earth, since the earth was considered to have four corners. Seven was often
considered a lucky number, and thirteen was an unlucky number.

One such example of “magic" in numbers is the concept of a magic square. Magic squares first appeared
in recorded history in ancient China. The story is told that around 2200 B. C the Emperor Yu found a
tortoise with a pattern on its shell while walking along the Yellow River. He called this unique diagram,
Loh-Shu.

The Loh-Shu Tortoise (1.1)

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However, the first recorded magic square was described as the scroll of the river Loh or Loh-Shu by
Fuh-Hi. It is a 3x3 magic square with symbols rather than numbers (See fig 1.2). The Chinese scholars
of today have only managed to trace the Loh-Shu back as far as the fourth century B. C. and from then
until the tenth century it was seen as a symbol of great significance. This Loh-Shu was numerical, with
the number of dots in each symbol representing a whole number (See fig 1.2). The even numbers were
thought to represent the female principle, yin, and the odd numbers the male principle, yang. The 5 in
the middle was thought to be the earth, around which lie the other four elements; metal (4 and 9), fire ( 2
and 7), water( 1 and 6) and wood (3 and 8) .

The Loh-Shu Magic Square (Fig 1.2)

There are also Greek writings relating to magic squares from around 1300 B.C. It is thought that from
China, magic squares were introduced to Indian culture, and it was there that the first magic square of
order four was discovered. In India, magic squares were used not only in the traditional mathematical
context, but also for other applications such as in recipes for making perfume and also in medical work.

Islamic and Arabic mathematicians were aware of magic squares, probably from the Indians, by about
the fifth century A.D. and are often attributed to using them in astrology and predictions. Their magic
squares were of larger order & they compiled a list of magic squares up to order nine. It was Islamic
mathematicians who first made simple rules for creating magic squares. In around 1300, the Byzantine,
Manual Moschopoulos, wrote a book based on the findings of Al-Buni, an Arab mathematician, about
magic squares. It was Moschopoulos who introduced magic squares to Europe, where they were
associated with divination, alchemy and astrology.

Since then, magic squares have been looked at in relation to planets and the sun, art and religion. Also in
the past, magic squares were important in African culture. They held spiritual importance and were often
inscribed on masks, clothes and religious artefacts and were influential in house design and building.

In India, a procedure called Vedic Method is being used to construct magic squares even before
centuries.Hindu tradition assigns them to God Siva and they treated it as Bhadra Ganita. Methodological
construction of magic squares based on certain mathematical principles was taken up in France in the
7th century A.D. It became very popular in the Arab countries in the 10th century A.D. One among the

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famous magic squares in India is Sree Rama Chakra which is of 4th order. Another magic square is
found in a work of Varahamihira. Several magic squares of various orders are available to us such as
Eulerian Magic Squares, Kubera Chakra, Mahadeva Sooris Magic Square, Mars Square, Nasik Magic
Square, Claude Gaspar Bachet Magic square, Millenium 2000, Topsyturvy Magic Squares, Ramanujans
Square, Khajuraho Squares, Wishing Caps, Albrochet Durers Melancholia I etc.

Apart from the recreational and mythological aspects of magic squares, it is found that they posses
several advanced mathematical properties. A handful of such properties are discussed here.

Magic Square

Definition:

A magic square of order n is a square matrix or array of n 2 numbers such that the sum of the elements
of each row and column, as well as the main diagonal and main back diagonal, is the same number,
called the magic constant (or magic sum, or line-sum), sometimes denoted by  ( M ) .

Generally, the entries are thought of as the natural numbers 1, 2, ..., n 2 , where each number is used
exactly once; such magic squares will be referred to here as normal magic squares.

The magic sum, or the number that each row, column and diagonal add up to can be found by the
formula nn 2  1 . In general, magic squares remain magic if the same positive integer is added to each
1
2
number in the square or each number in the original square is multiplied by the same number.

A basic 4x4 magic square

The trace of the magic square M, represented by tr(M), is the sum of the elements on the main diagonal.

The back trace of M, represented by btr (M), is the sum of the elements on the main back diagonal.

The set of all magic squares of order n may be represented by MS (n). The set of all magic squares of
order n whose magic constant is m will be denoted mMS(n).

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Types of Magic Squares:

Certain kinds of magic squares have been given more narrow definitions based on the kinds of
additional properties they possess. Listed below are some of the more common ones. Not all of these
will be discussed later. There are still other kinds of magic squares besides these, but the ones listed here
are among those more commonly mentioned.

A diabolic, pan diagonal, or perfect magic square is a magic square with the additional property that the
sum of any extended diagonal parallel to the main diagonal and back diagonal is also  ( M ) , the magic
constant. An example will be constructed later in this paper.

A symmetric magic square, in addition to being magic, has the property that “the sum of the two
numbers in any two cells symmetrically placed with respect to the center cell is the same" . A
symmetric magic square is also called an associative magic square.

A concentric, or bordered, magic square, is a magic square for which removing the top and bottom rows
and the left and right columns (the “borders") results in another magic square. In the bordered square
below, each of the three outer borders may be removed, leaving a square that is still magic.

A zero magic square is a magic square whose magic constant is 0. The set of all such zero magic
squares of order n is symbolized 0MS (n). Obviously, a zero magic square cannot also be a normal
magic square since it must contain negative entries. An example of Zero magic square is

4 11 12 5 2 
10 8 6 1 3 

 9 7 0 7 9 
 
 3 1 6 8 10 
 2 5 12 11 4 

A geometric, or multiplication magic square, is a square matrix of numbers such that the product of the
elements of each row, column, and corner-to-corner diagonal is a constant. An example of such matrix is

 432 6 18 16 
 4 72 24 108 
 
 8 36 12 216 
 
 54 48 144 2 

Methods of Constructing Magic Squares

There are many ways of producing magic squares. Several construction methods exist. Squares of odd
order have different construction methods from squares of even order. Even-ordered squares may have
different methods depending on whether or not the order is a multiple of four (called “doubly even") or
not (called “singly even").
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Odd Order

An odd order magic square is of the form, n  2m 1 . There are several methods of generating such
magic squares for m  1 . With the most common being the known as the Hindu or staircase method (see
in fig below). In this method, Start with 1 in the top center position. Put 2 in the bottom row in the
column to the right, then continue diagonally upward (towards the “northeast") until reaching the right
hand side. Then pick up on the left hand side on the next row up, entering the natural numbers through
n, until reaching 1 again. The next number, which would be n + 1, goes directly under n. Continue in the
same pattern until the square is filled. If the top is reached, the next number is placed in the bottom
square of the next column. This method was devised by De la Loubère when the 1 is placed in the
middle column of the top row, If the 1 lies in the middle column on the row directly above the middle
row it is known as the method of Bachet de Méziriac.

An example using the Hindu Rule for n= 5 follows:

The Hindu or staircase method for generating odd order magic squares

Even-Ordered Magic Squares

A more complicated proposition is the construction of even-ordered magic squares. They may be
divided into two categories: those with n  0(mod 4) , called doubly even, and those with n  2(mod 4) ,
called singly even.

1) Doubly Even
A doubly even magic square is in the form n  4m . One method of constructing this type of magic
square, for m  1 , is the cross method (See fig). By writing all the numbers in order from the top left of a
square to the bottom right, then drawing a cross through every 4x4 square, or sub-square of a larger
square, and swapping the numbers along the diagonals of the cross, will yield a magic square.

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The cross method for generating doubly even magic squares

2) Singly Even

A singly even magic square is of the form 4m  2 , when m  1 . One method of construction is that of
Ralph Strachey, to divide the square up into equal quarters. For example, in a 6x6 square, this will give
four 3x3 squares. Each of these can then be formed using De la Loubère’s method for odd order squares.

8 1 6 26 19 24

3 5 7 21 23 25

4 9 2 22 27 20

35 28 33 17 10 15

30 32 34 12 14 16

31 36 29 13 18 11

Strachey Method

Pan magic Squares

Panmagic squares, also known as pan diagonal and diabolic squares, have the same properties as normal
magic squares except that all the broken diagonals of the square must also equal the magic sum,
therefore the square must be magic along all rows, columns, the two full diagonals and all broken
diagonals. Panmagic squares do not exist for order 3 or for order 4m  2 , where m is any integer. The
Hindu method for generating odd order magic squares will produce panmagic squares for order 6m  1

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when using vector (2, 1) and break vector (1, -1) Where the vector is the number of cells moved across
and down respectively. The break vector is how the pattern changes when a filled cell is reached again.

Broken diagonals

Latin Squares

A Latin square differs from a normal magic square in that it is an n  n matrix containing only the
numbers 1 to n rather than 1 to n 2 . They are written in such a way that each row and column contain
every number only once. Latin squares can be formed for any order, for example there is one Latin
square of order 1, two of order 2 (See fig) .

Latin squares of order 2

Algebraic Structure
Algebraic structures consist of a set together with one or more binary operations, which are required to
satisfy certain axioms.

Magic square multiplication: If the first magic square, A, is n×n, and the second one, B, is m×m. The
'product' of A and B, A*B, will be a nm× nm magic square.

Magic square addition: This operation is same as the matrix addition (componentwise addition)

GROUPS

A group is an algebraic structure with a single operation. Groups are closely associated with the idea of
symmetry, and most groups that arise in mathematics are groups of symmetry transformations, with the
operation being composition of functions.

Definition: A group is a set G together with a binary operation  on G, satisfying the following axioms:

1. Associative: a  (b  c) = (a  b)  c for all a; b; c  G.

2. Identity: There exists an element e  G with the property that a  e = e  a = a for all a  G. (This
element e is called the identity element of G.)

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3. Inverse: For each element a  G, there exists an element a 1  G such that a  a 1 = a 1  a = e.(The
element a 1 is called the inverse of a.)

Abelian group: An abelian group is a commutative group. That is, a  b = b  a for all a, b  A.
Theorem: Magic Squares Form an Abelian Group under magic square addition.

For n   , n  2, MS(n) is an abelian group under matrix addition.

Proof: Throughout the following, let X, Y, and Z  MS(n).

Use matrix notation to denote each magic square. That is, we may represent a matrix X by using a
representative element [xij]. Then the following conditions for forming a group under component wise
addition hold:

1. Closure: X + Y is a magic square:


X + Y = [xij] + [yij] = [xij+yij].

For X +Y to be a magic square, the sum of each row, column, and diagonal must be the same. Choose
an arbitrary row from rows 1 through n. Then
n n n

 aij +  bij =  (aij  bij ) =  (X+Y) , using a well-known property of sums.


j 1 j 1 j 1

In a similar fashion we can see that the sum of the elements of any column of X+Y is σ (X+Y) ; a
similar result holds for the main diagonal and main back diagonal.

2. Associativity: (X+Y)+Z=X+(Y+Z) :
(X+Y)+Z = ([xij] + [yij]) + [zij] = [xij+yij]+ [zij] = [xij+yij+ zij]

= [xij]+[yij+ zij] = [xij] + ([yij] + [zij]) = X+(Y+Z).

3. Identity: There exists 0 such that X+0 = 0+X = X:


Let 0  MS(n) such that aij= 0  aij.
Then X+0 = [xij + 0] = [xij] =X ; also, 0+X = [0 + xij] = [xij] = X.

4. Inverse: There exists X  in MS(n) such that X+ X  = X  +X=0:


Let X  = (-1)X. Then X+ X  = [xij ] + [-xij ] = [xij-xij] = [0] = 0.

Similarly, we can see that X  +X= 0.

5. Commutativity: X+Y = Y+X :


X+Y = [xij + xij] = [yij + xij] = Y+X.

Since all the axioms of an abelian group are satisfied, it follows that MS(n) is an abelian group under
magic square addition.

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Proposition: MS(n) is not a closed under magic square multiplication.


If X,Y are in MS(n), then X·Y will be in MS(n2).

RINGS
A ring is a more general algebraic structure with addition and multiplication. A ring is not required to
have multiplicative inverses, and the multiplication is not required to be commutative. A good example
of a ring is the set of all n×n matrices under the operations of matrix addition and matrix multiplication.
The integers Z also form a ring under the operations of addition and multiplication.

Definition: A ring is a set R together with two binary operations + (the addition operation) and · (the
multiplication operation), that satisfy the following axioms:

1. R is an abelian group under addition:-


A1. Associative: a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c for all a; b; c  R.

A2. Commutative: a + b = b + a for all a; b  R.

A3. Identity: There exists a special element of R called the additive identity denoted
by the symbol 0. This element has the property that

a + 0 = 0 + a = a for all a  R.

A4. Inverse: For each element a  R, there is an element -a  R, called the additive inverse of a,
with the property that a + (-a) = 0.

2. R is a monoid under multiplication:-


M1. Associative: a · (b · c) = (a · b) · c for all a; b; c  R.
M2. Commutative: a · b = b · a for all a; b  R.
3. Multiplication is distributive with respect to addition:-
D1. Left distributivity: a · (b + c) = (a · b) + (a · c) for all a; b; c  R.

D2. Right distributivity: (b + c) ⋅ a = (b ⋅ a) + (c ⋅ a) for all a; b; c  R.

Proposition: MS(n) is not a ring under matrix addition and magic square multiplication.

VECTOR SPACE
Definition: We will let X,Y, and Z be magic squares of order n and a and b be scalars.

A vector space has the following properties:

1. X+Y  MS(n); aX  MS(n).


2. X+Y=Y+X
3. X+(Y+Z)=(X+Y)+Z

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4.  0 such that X + 0 = 0 + X = X

5.  X  such that X + X  = X  + X =0

6. a(X+Y) = aX + bY

7. (a + b)X = aX + bX

8. (ab)X = a(bX)

9. 1X = X

Theorem: Magic Squares Form Vector Spaces

For n   , n ≠ 2, MS(n) is a vector space over  .

Proof: Throughout the following, let X, Y , and Z  MS(n). Let a, b   . Then the following conditions
for forming a vector space hold.

(1a). X + Y is a magic square: X + Y = [xij] + [yij] = [xij+yij].

For X +Y to be a magic square, the sum of each row, column, and diagonal must be the same. Choose
an arbitrary row from rows 1 through n. Then
n n n

a ij +  bij =  ( aij  bij ) =  (X+Y) , using a well-known property of sums.


j 1 j 1 j 1

In a similar fashion we can see that the sum of the elements of any column of X+Y is σ (X+Y) ; a
similar result holds for the main diagonal and main back diagonal.

(1b). aX is a magic square: We wish to show that multiplying each element of the magic

square X by a constant a, we get a new magic square. We see that aX = a[xij] = [axij]. To show that aX is
n
a magic square, then, we note that  ax
i 1
ij = naxij for the rows,

 ax
j 1
ij = naxij for the columns, tr(aX) = naxij, and btr(aX) = naxij. Thus aX  MS(n).

2. X+Y =Y+X: To show that addition of magic squares is commutative, we see that

X+Y = [xij + xij] = [yij + xij] = Y+X.

3. (X+Y)+Z = X+(Y+Z): To show addition of magic squares is associative, we see that


(X+Y)+Z = ([xij] + [yij]) + [zij] = [xij+yij]+ [zij] = [xij+yij+ zij]

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= [xij]+[yij+ zij] = [xij] + ([yij] + [zij]) = X+(Y+Z).

4. There exists 0 such that X+0 = 0+X = X:


Let 0  MS(n) such that aij= 0  aij.
Then X+0 = [xij + 0] = [xij] =X ; also, 0+X = [0 + xij] = [xij] = X.

5. Inverse: There exists X  in MS(n) such that X+ X  = X  +X=0:


Let X  = (-1)X. Then X+ X  = [xij ] + [-xij ] = [xij-xij] = [0] = 0.

Similarly, we can see that X  +X= 0.

6. a(X + Y ) = aX + aY : To prove that scalar multiplication is distributive over magic square


addition we see that a(X+Y ) = a[xij+yij] = [a(xij+yij)] = [axij+ayij] = aX+aY .
7. (a+b)X = aX + bX: To show that the sum of two scalars mutliplied by a magic square possesses a
kind of right distributive property, we see that
(a+b)X = [(a+b)xij] = [axij + bxij] = [axij]+ [bxij] = aX + bX.

8. (ab)X = a(bX): To show that the product of two scalars and a magic square is associative, we
note that
(ab)X = [(ab)xij] = [a(bxij)] = a[bxij] = a(bX).

9. 1X = X: To show that the scalar 1 is the scalar mutliplication identity, we show that
1X = [1xij] = [xij] = X.

Since all nine vector space properties hold, it follows that MS(8) is a vector space over  .

Magic Sum As Eigenvalues of Magic Squares:


Definition: Let A be an n x n matrix. Then a real number λ is called an eigenvalue of the matrix, A if
and only if, there is a n-dimensional nonzero vector, v for which

Av  v
such a vector, v is called an eigenvector of the matrix A, associated with the eigenvalue λ.

Spectral radius

The spectral radius of a matrix M is the supremum of all the eigenvalues of a matrix M, Symbolically,
defined as

ρ (M) = max { |λ|, λ eigenvalue of M} .

The eigenvalues of a matrix A are found by solving the characteristic equation |A - λI| = 0 for λ, where
I is the familiar identity matrix consisting of 1's on the main diagonal and 0's elsewhere.

For example, to find the eigenvalues of the classic third-order magic square, we would set

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8   1 6 
 
 3 5 7  = 0, obtaining the characteristic equation
 4 2   
 9

(8 - λ)(5 - λ)(2 - λ)+(3)(9)(6) + (1)(7)(4) - (4)(5 – λ )(6) - (3)(1)(2 - λ) - (9)(7)(8 - λ) = 0.

After some simplification, we would produce the following sets of equivalent equations leading to
values

for λ :

(40 - 13 λ + λ2) (2 - λ) + 162 + 28 - 120 + 24λ - 504 + 63λ - 6 + 3λ = 0

80 - 26λ + 2λ2 - 40λ + 13λ2 – λ3 + 70 + 24λ - 504 + 63λ - 6 + 3λ = 0

- λ3 + 15λ2 + 24λ - 360 = 0

- λ2 (λ - 15) + 24 (λ - 15) = 0

(-λ2 + 24) (λ - 15) = 0

λ2 = 24 or λ = 15

So the eigenvalues for this magic square are λ = 15, 2 6 , and -2 6 . The spectral radius of this magic
1
 
square is λ = 15 and the eigenvector corresponding to this eigenvalue λ = 15 is  1  . The value λ = 15 is
1
 
the same as  (M), the magic constant of 15. In fact, of the three eigenvalues, 15 is the largest in
absolute value, also known as the principal or dominant eigenvalue.

Of course, calculating eigenvalues by this method would become almost prohibitively difficult for a
square of much larger order. Fortunately, numerical methods exist for using a computer to do the
calculation. Investigation using MatLab shows the pattern apparently continues. For each nth order
magic square, there are n (not necessarily distinct) eigenvalues. For each one generated by the program,
the principal eigenvalue turned out to be the magic constant  (M). For example, for the 13th order

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 93 108 123 138 153 168 1 16 31 46 61 76 91 


107 122 137 152 167 13 15 30 45 60 75 90 92 

121 136 151 166 12 14 29 44 59 74 89 104 106 
 
135 150 165 11 26 28 43 58 73 88 103 105 120 
149 164 10 25 27 42 57 72 87 102 117 119 134 
 
163 9 24 39 41 56 71 86 101 116 118 133 148 
Hindu magic square  8 23 38 40 55 70 85 100 115 130 132 147 162 
 
 22 37 52 54 69 84 99 114 129 131 146 161 7 
 36 51 53 68 83 98 113 128 143 145 160 6 21 
 
 50 65 67 82 97 112 127 142 144 159 5 20 35 
 
 64 66 81 96 111 126 141 156 158 4 19 34 49 
 78 80 95 110 125 140 155 157 3 18 33 48 63 
 
 79 94 109 124 139 154 169 2 17 32 47 62 77 

The eigenvalues are found to be approximately 1105.0, ± 353.1, ± 181.8, ± 127.4, ± 102.7, ± 90.4, and ±
85.1. Using the formula for finding the magic sum of a normal magic square, we find  (M) to be
13 13
(13 2 1) = (170) = 1105, which is indeed the principal eigenvalue of this square.
2 2

The only exception found was the zero magic square. Its magic constant was 0, but its principal
eigenvalue was not 0. However, one of its eigenvalues is 0. Perhaps only magic squares with positive
entries have the magic constant as the principal eigenvalue, and others will have the magic constant as
some eigenvalue.

Proposition: The principal eigenvalue of a magic square composed of positive elements is its magic
constant. If a magic square has some negative elements, then its magic constant is one of its
eigenvalues.

The eigenvalues of M are computed by use of a determinant. The main diagonal of this determinant has
-  added to each element. The sum of the elements on the main diagonal, tr(M), is equal to  (M) by
definition. Also it is known that the sum of the eigenvalues of M is equal to tr(M) and, therefore it is
possible to see that  (M) is equal to  .
Applications of Magic Squares

Modern day applications of magic squares are difficult to find. There seems to be some sort of link
between magic squares and mathematical puzzle,named Sudoku. Apart from that, other applications
found were from mathematicians in history which no longer apply.

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IRJMST Vol 6 Issue 2 [Year 2015] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print)

Sudoku

Sudoku was first introduced in 1979 and became popular in Japan during the 1980’s . It has recently
become a very popular puzzle in Europe, but it is actually a form of Latin square. A Sudoku square is a
9x9 grid, split into 9 3x3 sub-squares. Each sub-square is filled in with the numbers 1 to n where n  9 ,
so that the 9x9 grid becomes a Latin square. This means each row and column contain the numbers 1 to
9 only once. Therefore each row, column and sub-square will sum to the same amount.

An Example of a Sudoku Square

Conclusion

The idea for this paper was conceived upon hearing a remark that the set of magic squares forms a
Group, vector space but not Ring. After taking a course in matrix algebra, it seemed natural to consider
magic squares as matrices and to investigate eigenvalues and eigenvectors and spectral radius. Once
again, it is surprising that only one reference to eigenvalues of magic squares was found, and that was
only a passing remark that the one of the eigenvalues of third and fourth order squares seems to be the
magic constant. The preposition has turned out correct for over forty different squares of varying types
of construction, but that does not constitute a proof.

Although there are a few applications of magic squares, they perhaps best belong to the category of
recreational mathematics. For those who dabble in mathematics for enjoyment, magic squares are rich
with mathematical properties related to many branches of mathematics.The squares were thought to be
mysterious and magic, although now it is clear that they are just ways of arranging numbers and symbols
using certain rules. They can be applied to Sudoku as has been discussed but are mainly of interest in
mathematics for their “magic” properties.

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IRJMST Vol 6 Issue 2 [Year 2015] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print)

References

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http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Sudoku.html .
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http://mathworld.wolfram.com/MagicSquare.html .

9)Weisstein, E. W. (2006). Latin square [online]. Available:


http://mathworld.wolfram.com/LatinSquare.html .
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http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PanmagicSquare.html .
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12)Cohen,Martin P.,and John Bernard.”From Magic Squares to Vector Spaces” Mathematics Teacher 75
(January 1982)
13) David.C.Lay,Linear Algebra And its Applications,Third Edition 2009,Published by arrangement
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