More Multi-Magic

The answer, I’m glad to say, is yes. The question is: Can a prime magic-square nest inside a second prime magic-square that nests inside a third prime magic-square? I asked this in Multi-Magic, where I described how a magic square is a square of numbers where all rows, all columns and both diagonals add to the same number, or magic total. This magic square consists entirely of prime numbers, or numbers divisible only by themselves and 1:

43 | 01 | 67
61 | 37 | 13
07 | 73 | 31

Base = 10, magic total = 111

It nests inside this prime magic-square, whose digit-sums in base-97 re-create it:

0619  =  [06][37] | 0097  =  [01][00] | 1123  =  [11][56]
1117  =  [11][50] | 0613  =  [06][31] | 0109  =  [01][12]
0103  =  [01][06] | 1129  =  [11][62] | 0607  =  [06][25]

Base = 97, magic total = 1839

And that prime magic-square nests inside this one:

2803  =  [1][0618] | 2281  =  [1][0096] | 3307  =  [1][1122]
3301  =  [1][1116] | 2797  =  [1][0612] | 2293  =  [1][0108]
2287  =  [1][0102] | 3313  =  [1][1128] | 2791  =  [1][0606]

Base = 2185, magic total = 8391

I don’t know whether that prime magic-square nests inside a fourth square, but a 3-nest is good for 3×3 magic squares. On the other hand, this famous 3×3 magic square is easy to nest inside an infinite series of other magic squares:

6 | 1 | 8
7 | 5 | 3
2 | 9 | 4

Base = 10, magic total = 15

It’s created by the digit-sums of this square in base-9 (“14 = 15” means that the number 14 is represented as “15” in base-9):

14 = 15 → 6 | 09 = 10 → 1 | 16 = 17 → 8
15 = 16 → 7 | 13 = 14 → 5 | 11 = 12 → 3
10 = 11 → 2 | 17 = 18 → 9 | 12 = 13 → 4

Base = 9, magic total = 39


And that square in base-9 is created by the digit-sums of this square in base-17:

30 = 1[13] → 14 | 25 = 00018 → 09 | 32 = 1[15] → 16
31 = 1[14] → 15 | 29 = 1[12] → 13 | 27 = 1[10] → 11
26 = 00019 → 10 | 33 = 1[16] → 17 | 28 = 1[11] → 12

Base = 17, magic total = 87

And so on:

62 = 1[29] → 30 | 57 = 1[24] → 25 | 64 = 1[31] → 32
63 = 1[30] → 31 | 61 = 1[28] → 29 | 59 = 1[26] → 27
58 = 1[25] → 26 | 65 = 1[32] → 33 | 60 = 1[27] → 28

Base = 33, magic total = 183

126 = 1[61] → 62 | 121 = 1[56] → 57 | 128 = 1[63] → 64
127 = 1[62] → 63 | 125 = 1[60] → 61 | 123 = 1[58] → 59
122 = 1[57] → 58 | 129 = 1[64] → 65 | 124 = 1[59] → 60

Base = 65, magic total = 375

Previously Pre-Posted (please peruse):

Multi-Magic

Central Government

A magic square is a square of numbers in which all rows and columns and both diagonals add to the same number, or the magic total. The 3×3 magic square, also known as the Lo Shu square (“scroll of the River Lo” square), uses the numbers 1 to 9 and has a magic total of 15. I haven’t seen it explicitly stated anywhere on the net, perhaps because it’s trivially obvious to proper mathematicians, but in this and other 3×3 magic squares, the magic total must be three times the central number. Here is the proof:

4 9 2
3 5 7
8 1 6
a b c
d e f
g h i

1. a + b + c = a + e + i = b + e + h = c + e + g

2. 3(a + b + c) = (a + e + i) + (b + e + h) + (c + e + g)

3. 3a + 3b + 3c = 3e + a + i + b + h + c + g

4. 2a + 2b + 2c = 3e + g + h + i

5. 2a + 2b + 2c – (g + h + i) = 3e

6. 3e = a + b + c = magic total

Update: In fact, this fact about 3×3 squares is mentioned a lot on the web. See, for example, Negative Magic Squares, which describes a proof discovered by Māori mathematicians in 736 B.C.E.

Some 3×3 magic squares using entirely prime numbers (except for 1 in the first square):

00043 00001 00067
00061 00037 00013
00007 00073 00031 mt = 111 = 37 x 3

00071 00005 00101
00089 00059 00029
00017 00113 00047 mt = 177 = 59 x 3

00083 00029 00101
00089 00071 00053
00041 00113 00059 mt = 213 = 71 x 3

00103 00007 00109
00079 00073 00067
00037 00139 00043 mt = 219 = 73 x 3

00107 00011 00149
00131 00089 00047
00029 00167 00071 mt = 267 = 89 x 3

00139 00007 00163
00127 00103 00079
00043 00199 00067 mt = 309 = 103 x 3

12841 09769 15013
14713 12541 10369
10069 15313 12241 mt = 37623 = 12541 x 3

12721 07753 17167
16993 12547 08101
07927 17341 12373 mt = 37641 = 12547 x 3

13183 08059 16417
15787 12553 09319
08689 17047 11923 mt = 37659 = 12553 x 3