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Thursday, June 14, 2012

Transversal of primes


Choose a prime number p, draw a p×p array, and fill it with integers like so:

Now: Can we always find p cells that contain prime numbers such that no two occupy the same row or column? (This is somewhat like arranging rooks on a chessboard so that every rank and file is occupied but no rook attacks another.)

The example below shows one solution for p=11. Does a solution exist for every prime number? No one knows.

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