Antimagic square

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An antimagic square of order n is an arrangement of the numbers 1 to n² in a square, such that the n rows, the n columns and the two diagonals form a sequence of 2n + 2 consecutive integers. The smallest antimagic squares have order 4.

2 15 5 13
16 3 7 12
9 8 14 1
6 4 11 10
1 13 3 12
15 9 4 10
7 2 16 8
14 6 11 5

In each of these two antimagic squares of order 4, the rows, columns and diagonals sum to ten different numbers in the range 29–38.

Antimagic squares form a subset of heterosquares which simply have each row, column and diagonal sum different. They contrast with magic squares where each sum is the same.

[edit] Some open problems

  • How many antimagic squares of a given order exist?
  • Do antimagic squares exist for all orders greater than 3?
  • Is there a simple proof that no antimagic square of order 3 exists?

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