Related papers: Squaring the Circle Revisited
The quadratrix received its name from the circle quadrature, squaring the circle, but it only solves it if completed by taking a limit, as pointed out already in antiquity. We ask if it can square the circle without limits and restrict its…
We show that deciding whether a given set of circles can be packed into a rectangle, an equilateral triangle, or a unit square are NP-hard problems, settling the complexity of these natural packing problems. On the positive side, we show…
A square trisection is a problem of assembling three identical squares from a larger square, using a minimal number of pieces. This paper presents an historical overview of the square trisection problem starting with its origins in the…
Trisecting an angle has been proved to be impossible by Euclidean Geometry, using only straight edge and compass. However, there is a method using Origami (paper folding) procedure to trisect an angle. The algebraic analysis of the same…
Magic squares are well-known arrangements of integers with common row, column, and diagonal sums. Various other magic shapes have been proposed, but triangles have been somewhat overlooked. We introduce certain triangular arrangements of…
We reconsider Archimedes' evaluations of several square roots in 'Measurement of a Circle'. We show that several methods proposed over the last century or so for his evaluations fail one or more criteria of plausibility. We also provide…
The theorem on squaring a rectangle from a tiling of a quadrilateral (Schramm and Cannon-Floyd-Parry) gives a combinatorial version of the Riemann mapping theorem. We elucidate by example (the dumbbell) some of the limitations of…
In this paper we prove the transcendence of $\pi$ using Hilbert's method. We also prove that all points constructible with compass and straightedge have algebraic coordinates. Thus we give a self-contained proof that squaring the circle is…
Magic squares have been an enthralling topic in mathematics for centuries. They are formed by filling in all the cells of a square matrix with the numbers starting from one so that the sum of all rows, columns, and diagonals is the same.…
Benjamin Franklin constructed three squares which have amazing properties, and his method of construction has been a mystery to date. In this article, we divulge his secret and show how to construct such squares for any order.
We answer a question of David Hilbert: given two circles it is not possible in general to construct their centers using only a straightedge. On the other hand, we give infinitely many families of pairs of circles for which such construction…
Over the last decade, Sudoku, a combinatorial number-placement puzzle, has become a favorite pastimes of many all around the world. In this puzzle, the task is to complete a partially filled $9 \times 9$ square with numbers 1 through 9,…
It is unknown at present whether a magic square of squared integers exists. Such an object is defined to be a 3 by 3 grid of 9 distinct integer squares, such that the entries of each row, column, and two main diagonals sum to the same…
An arrangement of pseudocircles is a collection of simple closed curves on the sphere or in the plane such that any two of the curves are either disjoint or intersect in exactly two crossing points. We call an arrangement intersecting if…
We give a computer-based proof of the following fact: If a square is divided into seven or nine convex polygons, congruent among themselves, then the tiles are rectangles.
Here is a square problem: in a unit square, is there a point with four rational distances to the vertices? A probability argument suggests a negative answer. This paper proves several special cases of the square problem: if the point sits…
A circular word, or a necklace, is an equivalence class under conjugation of a word. A fundamental question concerning regularities in standard words is bounding the number of distinct squares in a word of length $n$. The famous conjecture…
Consider a triangle $ABC$ with given lengths $l_a,l_b,l_c$ of its internal angle bisectors. We prove that in general, it is impossible to construct a square of the same area as $ABC$ using a ruler and compass. Moreover, it is impossible to…
The paper reports a generalized expression for filling the congruent circles (of radius r) in a circle (of radius R). First, a generalized expression for the biggest circle (r) inscribed in the nth part of the bigger circle (R) was…
We determine the conditions resulting from equating the area sums of alternative sectors in a circle generated by four, two, and three straight lines, respectively, that connect opposite points on its circumference while passing through a…