OFFSET
1,4
COMMENTS
Warning: several terms are provisional as their intended verification effectively assumed the augmenting squares were not larger than n X n. - Peter Munn, Oct 02 2023
The definition does not exclude squares larger than n X n.
Terms for n < 10 were verified by the use of a program.
a(10) <= 5.
LINKS
Tamas Sandor Nagy, Examples for a(1) - a(4).
Tamas Sandor Nagy, Example for a(5).
Tamas Sandor Nagy, Example for a(6).
Tamas Sandor Nagy, Original upper bound examples for a(7) with 5 augmenting squares and a(8) with 6 augmenting squares.
Tamas Sandor Nagy, Example of a conjectured solution for a(10) with 5 augmenting squares, found by Peter Munn.
Thomas Scheuerle, Example for a(6) with smallest possible area.
Thomas Scheuerle, Example for a(7).
Thomas Scheuerle, Example for a(8).
Thomas Scheuerle, Example for a(9).
Thomas Scheuerle, Original upper bound example for a(10) with 6 augmenting squares.
FORMULA
a(n) <= 1 + Sum_{k = 1 .. ceiling((n - 1)/2)} (n + (1 - k)*floor(n/k) - 2). This upper bound corresponds to placing the squares with length n up to n - floor((n - 1)/2) all in one row. The remaining mandatory squares will then fit naturally into the rectangle n X (1/2)*(2*n - ceiling((n - 1)/2))*(ceiling((n - 1)/2) + 1).
a(n) > a(n - 1) - 2.
EXAMPLE
Compositions of rectangles that satisfy the minimal number of augmenting squares for n. Where more than one minimal composition exists for a given n, the table shows a single example. In the table body, the numbers include both the specific mandatory and augmenting squares. a(n) is the total number of squares in the rectangle minus n.
| 1^2 2^2 3^2 4^2 5^2 6^2 7^2 8^2 9^2 10^2 | Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
a(1) = 0 | 1 | 1
a(2) = 1 | 2 1 | 3
a(3) = 1 | 2 1 1 | 4
a(4) = 3 | 2 1 2 2 | 7
a(5) = 2 | 2 1 1 2 1 | 7
a(6) = 4 | 2 1 3 2 1 1 | 10
a(7) = 3 | 1 1 1 3 1 2 1 | 10
a(8) = 3 | 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 | 11
a(9) = 4 | 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 | 13
CROSSREFS
KEYWORD
nonn,more
AUTHOR
Tamas Sandor Nagy and Thomas Scheuerle, Sep 25 2023
EXTENSIONS
Edited by Peter Munn, Oct 04 2023
STATUS
approved