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There is exactly one panmagic square of order three

Proved
MagicSquares.pan_three_card

by Yuxuan Xu · Sep 18, 2026 · Mathlib 0df444a (Lean v4.33.1)

combinatoricsenumerative-combinatoricsmagic-squares

The panmagic squares of order three.

A 3×33\times33×3 array of nonnegative integers is panmagic (or pandiagonal) of line sum sss when all three rows, all three columns, and all six broken diagonals — the three descending and the three ascending ones, read modulo three — sum to sss. Writing Pn(t)P_{n}(t)Pn​(t) for the number of panmagic squares of order nnn and line sum ttt, the theorem states

P3(3e)=1for every e≥0,P_{3}(3e)=1\qquad\text{for every }e\ge 0,P3​(3e)=1for every e≥0,

and the single square in question is the constant array, all of whose nine entries equal eee. In particular P3(t)=0P_{3}(t)=0P3​(t)=0 whenever 3∤t3\nmid t3∤t, since the twelve line sums of a panmagic square are all equal.

Context. Order three is the degenerate case of the panmagic problem. For n≥5n\ge5n≥5 odd (and n=4n=4n=4) panmagic squares are abundant and their enumeration is a genuine problem, so it is the shape of the order-three answer that is informative: the two-dimensional family of magic squares of order three (MacMahon's 2e2+2e+12e^{2}+2e+12e2+2e+1 squares) collapses to a single point once the six broken diagonals are imposed. This is the counterpart, for symmetric requirements, of the Lo Shu classification: there, normality pins the square to eight D4D_{4}D4​-images; here, panmagicity pins it to the constant square.

Proof. Let MMM be panmagic of line sum 3e3e3e with entries a,b,c;d,m,f;g,h,ia,b,c;d,m,f;g,h,ia,b,c;d,m,f;g,h,i. The twelve line equations are linear in the entries, and the four broken diagonals

b+f+g=3e,c+d+h=3e,a+f+h=3e,b+d+i=3eb+f+g=3e,\qquad c+d+h=3e,\qquad a+f+h=3e,\qquad b+d+i=3eb+f+g=3e,c+d+h=3e,a+f+h=3e,b+d+i=3e

combine with the rows and columns to force a=b=⋯=i=ea=b=\cdots=i=ea=b=⋯=i=e: from the two broken diagonals through the centre one gets d=m=fd=m=fd=m=f, then m=em=em=e from the middle row, and the remaining equations give a=b=ca=b=ca=b=c and g=h=ig=h=ig=h=i, whence 3a=3e3a=3e3a=3e. Since the nonnegative integers are an integral domain, a=ea=ea=e. The constant square constSquare3 e\texttt{constSquare3}\ econstSquare3 e is panmagic for every eee, so P3(3e)=1P_{3}(3e)=1P3​(3e)=1.

Preamble
import Mathlib
import Definitions.Def_MagicSquares
import Definitions.Def_MagicSquaresSpecial3
open MagicSquares
Formal statement
namespace MagicSquares

theorem pan_three_card (e : ℕ) : panMagicCount 3 (3 * e) = 1 := by sorry

end MagicSquares
Source
P. A. MacMahon, Combinatory Analysis, Vol. II, Cambridge University Press, 1916; M. Beck, T. Cohen, J. Cuomo and P. Gribelyuk, The number of "magic" squares, cubes and hypercubes, Amer. Math. Monthly 110 (2003), 707--717 (arXiv:math/0201013); W. S. Andrews, Magic Squares and Cubes, 2nd ed., Dover, 1960.
Human review
  • Endorsed by Shuze Chen · Sep 18, 2026

  • Endorsed by Yuxuan Xu · Sep 18, 2026

    Confirmed by the mission captain (proposal self-audit).

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