PLAINVIEW – Emily Franklin is earning recognition for her research in the field of magic squares. Most recently, the Wayland Baptist University senior received the Best Presentation award at the Mathematics Association of America conference in Denton.
Franklin presented her findings on research she has done on arithmagic squares. A magic square is basically a grid in which the sums of the numbers entered in each grid position are equal when added along each row, column and diagonal. The arithmagic squares differ in that the sums show a progression with each number in the sequence equally spaced apart.
Think sudoku on steroids.
“I love puzzles,” Franklin said of her research. “I love doing sudoku puzzles, but it wasn’t until I started my research at Wayland that I learned sudoku puzzles are actually part of an ancient field of mathematics.”
While Franklin’s research is advanced mathematics, it is grounded in ancient discoveries. It is said that the first magic square was discovered by a Chinese emperor on the back of a divine tortoise around 2100 BC. The research has come a long way since then.
Franklin has focused on trying to discover and classify arithmagic squares. She has been working with Levi Kasner, a computer science major, and together they have discovered a formula and written a computer program that will identify the squares. More importantly, it will identify base arithmagic squares which can be used to classify all other arithmagic squares. Together, they have identified 1,728 base 3x3 arithmagic squares, narrowed down from an infinite number.
Franklin’s presentation is available to watch at www.wbu.edu. Click on the Emily Franklin link on the home page. Or go directly to www.wbu.edu/stories/emily-franklin.htm.
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Top Photo: Emily Franklin works on an equation as her research advisor, Dr. Chris Thornhill, looks on.
Inset Photo: Emily Franklin displays the certificate she was awarded for Best Presentation at the Mathematics Association of America conference in Denton on April 1.
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