An Odd Symmetry
Clifford A Pickover · 2001
Abstract You fool! There are no identical positive integers you can put in the mailboxes that will make this work beyond the second row, ^35+^35 = ^30 x ^30. And the only solution for this row is2 + 2 = 2x2. This problem is so much fun because the solutions drop from infinity to 1 to 0 so quickly.For example, consider the third line, ^C+^C+^5 = <^3C x ^30 x Mathematically speaking, we are trying to find values for a in the equation a + a + a = a x a x a. This is equivalent to 3a = zz3, which is equivalent to a1 = 3, which has no integer solutions.