Compound Perfect Squared Squared Squares (CPSSs);
Orders 24 to 86

The author of this website, Stuart E. Anderson, has recently (February 2013) written a paper 'Compound Perfect Squared Squares of the Order Twenties'. It is available from this link. It is fair to say it is a more polished and technically correct document than this part of the website, which deals with the same topic. However the website complements the paper in many ways, especially in providing a great many more dissection codes and illustrations, mainly because the website is not limited to the low-orders.

Compound Perfect Squared Squares (CPSSs) are squares dissected into smaller squares, all different integer sizes, but with a rectangular inclusion (or a dissected square) in the tiling. These squared squares are scarcer than SPSSs (with recent substitution methods, this is no longer the case; see CPSS orders 41+). A great deal of thought and ingenuity has gone into the devising of methods of construction of CPSSs. The order 24 CPSS by T.H. Willcocks was found many years ( published 1948) before computers were able to verify it was indeed the lowest order example of its kind. See Simple Perfect Squared Squares for a chronology of Perfect Squared Square discoveries.

Compound squared squares have often been created using methods called 'transforms'. There are many dozens of transforms and they are generally not computer assisted. A transform will often change one square tiling into another.

One method uses algebra to create a CPSS from existing simple squared rectangles by selecting a squared rectangle from the catalogue and designating one of the square elements as a rectangle of indeterminate width and height, then making the height and width of the squared rectangle equal (to make it square), and recalculating both the sizes of the squares and the sides of the included rectangle using elementary algebra. The solution will be unique and with luck another perfect squared rectangle may be found in the catalogue which is able to fit into the included rectangle without any repeated elements. Those studying for an online mba in math, science or even business may have come across similar methods in their research.

CPSSs can also be created by combining Simple Perfect Squared Rectangles (SPSRs) in a number of different ways. Two SPSRs of the same size with no elements in common can be combined to make CPSS. Two SPSRs of the same shape, scaled can be combined to make CPSS. Several SPSRs of different sizes and shapes, but satisfying certain relationships can be combined into CPSSs. A construction based on the Fibonacci sequence as element sizes has also been used to create CPSSs. Computers can be used to speed up some of these methods.

A computational approach is also possible where 2-connected planar graph embeddings are generated, then transformed into compound square tilings using electrical network analysis. These tilings are tested for CPSSs.

CPSS Isomers

Every CPSS is one of at least 4 isomers (tilings with the same set of tiles). The included compound rectangle can be positioned in 4 different ways. If the rectangle is trivially compound (has a square equal to the height or width of the rectangle) then the rectangle can be positioned in 8 ways, if the rectangle is doubly or triply trivially compound it can be positioned in 16 and 32 ways, and so on. Other kinds of compound construction are also possible. In pdf's and drop down menus, isomer number is shown with square id and discoverer id. The first few numbers of isomers of which we have examples are 4, 7, 8, 11, 16, 20, 32, 48 and 64.

A chronology of the low(er) order compound perfect squared square (CPSS) discoveries and the people who made them;

CPSSs counts for orders 24 to 32 are now complete!

CPSSs counts by order are listed in the OEIS as sequences;