I find the asymmetry really upsetting and unsettling, and really want there to be a better one.

I feel the same way 😕

Will you resolve this to "no" if no proof is found before 2100?

@Jono3h we'll see if I'm still alive at 105 years old ;)

current plan is that I want a decisive resolution one way or another

Does the xckd solution counts? https://xkcd.com/2740/

If 4chan solved super mutations, manifold can solve packing problems

I don't need it... I don't need it... I NEED IT

Can someone in masters league offer a huge bounty to whoever solves this please? I beg you

Unless you would've donated the mana otherwise

what bothers me is that the square second from the top right is not fixed in place, it can move around a bit without changing the packing…

Interesting problem

What are the dimensions of the smaller squares and the bigger square? How is packing quantified?

@EstMtz The smaller squares are taken to be unit squares, the goal is to produce the arrangement with the smallest enclosing square. The side length of the enclosing square for this solution is about 4.6755

https://kingbird.myphotos.cc/packing/squares_in_squares.html

@Nick6d8e would be cool if there was a solution precisely to the feigenbaum constant, infact would wager there is. Maybe someone can start that market?

@JussiVilleHeiskanen interesting. Why might "17" specifically be relevant to the feigenbaum const.?

@EstMtz well, 5 is relevant to the golden ratio. A 17-gon can be constructed with square and compasses. There are other places you find 17, such as the tapestries

@JussiVilleHeiskanen if the optimal solution is less than the Feigenbaum constant then just move one of the squares outside