T-057: , the first packing of 211 squares below the grid on record
V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed superseded by T-188
< 15, by de Winter's packing of 16 September 2026: 211 unit squares in a square of that side. It is the first packing of 211 squares below the grid on record, so s(k^2 - k + 1) < k, shown in the Kingbird catalogue for k = 16, 17 and 18 (, 273 and 307), holds for k = 15 as well.
The source gives 21-digit poses and the author's report of an outward interval check at 80 digits; it publishes no interval boxes or checker.
The bound is certified here twice, by methods that share no geometry code. The first is an exact rational packing, the source's pose rounded to rationals at centre dilation 1, of side 74989803524838470007/5000000000000000000, 2.1e-14 below the printed side, decided pair by pair and wall by wall over Q by two checkers that share no code. The second is outward-rounded interval arithmetic on the source's own pose as printed, which lies in the printed square as placed with least wall clearance 1.000005e-14 and least pair gap 2.10001e-14, the values the source reports.
de Winter, JoostdeWinter/square-packing-211. The source says nothing about AI assistance.
Significance, composition and next rung
- Significance
- A count whose best known packing was the trivial grid now has one below it. On the Kingbird catalogue and this record, which show s(k^2 - k + 1) < k at , 273 and 307 (k = 16 to 18) and hold the grid at to 183 (k = 6 to 14), the smallest k shown to satisfy it drops from 16 to 15. S3 by the anchor "a substantive case result"; the margin, about 0.002, changes nothing beyond this count. Confirmed on 11 October beside T-135 (S3), the packing of 308 squares below the grid: one new packing below an integer side.
- Next rung
- V4 and C4 need two adversarial AI reviews by distinct reviewers of the complete claim and a human oversight record; the same-project reviews of each route (2026-09-29 and 2026-09-30) are not recorded in this entry's reviews. The source's own 80-digit interval run stays unreplayed until it publishes its boxes or checker; this record no longer depends on it.
- Novelty
- previously-published Present in an identified source
The case
As published
Proven
- exact
Citation record n-211
lowerKarakuş 2026, arXiv corrects Nagamochi 2005 (confirmed T-083)
upperOstashev & Couzo, GitHub (confirmed T-188)
Open
- optimality
The case record
Results on the case
13 results in the register on , oldest first, each with what it established and how it stands now.
2005 published T-007
for
V0 C1 Lower bound incomplete on this case, superseded by T-083 and T-180 (reported)
2026-09-04 published T-085
Nagamochi 2005, Lemma 1 is false for every container with and
V3 C3 Correction confirmed
Karakuş; Vlasenko · Karakuş 2026 · chelokot Nagamochi counterexample 2026 · packet · register
2026-09-16 published T-057 this result
, the first packing of 211 squares below the grid on record
V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed superseded by T-188
2026-09-29 published T-083
for every nonsquare
V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed
Karakuş · Karakuş 2026 · source · register
2026-10-05 published T-098
Exact optima of 48 known-best packings:
s(n) ≤ S',3.5e-13to5.0e-11below each printed sideV3 C3 Upper bound confirmed on this case, superseded by T-188
Daniel after Couzo, de Winter, Ellsworth, Levy · evand exact optima 2026-10-05 · packet · register
2026-10-11 published T-149
New packings of 155, 156 and 211 squares, each with an exact rational certificate
V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed superseded by T-188
Ostashev after Nakajima, Levy, Xu · Ostashev records 2026-10-11 · packet · register
2026-10-12 published T-163
s(n² − n + 1) < n for every n ≥ 15, and n² − n + F(n) squares below side n, from Fang
V2 C1 Upper bound reviewed superseded by T-188
Fang after Arslanov, Mustafin, Shangitbayev, Ellsworth, Stead, de Winter, Daniel, Couzo · Fang excess theorem 2026-10-13 · packet · register
2026-10-13 published T-174
Tighter certificates at 68 counts from PingYou Ltd, of others' packings and its own
V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed on this case, superseded by T-188
PingYou Ltd after Friedman, Ellsworth, Daniel, Xu, Barnett, Couzo, Ostashev, Chaoweeraprasit, Gupta, Fang, Polkovskyi, Levy · PingYou PR 574 certificates 2026-10-13 · packet · register
2026-10-13 published T-175
New packings of 211, 241 and 304 squares, two with merged tilted bands, each certified exactly
V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed superseded by T-188
Ostashev after Nakajima, Daniel, de Winter, Couzo, Levy, Xu · Ostashev merged bands 2026-10-13 · packet · register
2026-10-13 published T-180
Closed-form lower bound for every non-square , reported
V0 C1 Lower bound reviewed
Hosono · wand125 closed form 2026-10-14 · packet · packet · register
2026-10-13 published T-181
Exact rational certificates at 211, 241 and 302 from Couzo
V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed superseded by T-188
Couzo after Daniel, Ostashev, Fang, Ellsworth, Levy; Couzo after Daniel, Ostashev, BuddenPing, Fang, Ellsworth, Levy · Couzo issue-583 certificates 2026-10-13 · Couzo certificates 2026-10-13 · packet · packet · register
2026-10-13 published T-182
Exact rational certificates at 154, 211 and 241 from Couzo
V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed on this case, superseded by T-188
Couzo after Daniel, Ostashev, BuddenPing, Fang, Ellsworth, Levy · Couzo certificates 2026-10-13 · packet · register
2026-10-14 published T-188
A tighter exact certificate for 211 squares from Couzo, of Ostashev's arrangement
V3 C3 Upper bound confirmed
Couzo after Ostashev, Daniel, Levy · Couzo verified bounds 2026-10-14 · packet · register
Links
- On this site
- Case record, · Frontier row, · T-057 in the results table
On GitHub, at main
- Register
- T-057 in
results.yaml, line 5138 - Evidence
E-n211-de-winter-report·E-n211-de-winter-exact-replay·E-n211-de-winter-interval-replay- Proofs and certificates
- certificate
n-211-rational.yaml.gz· certificaten-211.yaml - Sources
- de Winter n211 2026-09-16 (its own site, retained copy)
- Source packet
resources/web/de-winter-square-packing-211-2026-09-16/README.md- Artifacts
14 artifacts and controls
resources/web/de-winter-square-packing-211-2026-09-16/README.mdresources/web/de-winter-square-packing-211-2026-09-16/acquisition/sources.jsonresources/web/de-winter-square-packing-211-2026-09-16/receipts/certification.jsonresources/web/de-winter-square-packing-211-2026-09-16/receipts/interval-certification.jsonwitnesses/de-winter-2026/n-211-rational.yaml.gzdevtools/upper_bound_packets.pydevtools/check_rational_witness_independent.pydevtools/upper_bound_intervals.pydocs/project/reviews/review-2026-09-29-issue-227-upper-bound-packings.mddocs/project/reviews/review-2026-09-30-interval-route-t056-t057.mdresources/web/franciscouzo-square-packing-2026-09-27/receipts/negative-controls.jsonresources/web/de-winter-square-packing-211-2026-09-16/receipts/interval-negative-controls.jsontests/test_upper_bound_packets.pytests/test_upper_bound_intervals.py- Case file
frontier/n-211.md(verified lower, verified upper, reported lower, reported upper)