T-234: Hosono reports a hypothesis-free Lean proof that s(21)=5, by the point-only route

V0 C0 Formalization recorded

2026-09-29 published · Hosono after Daniel, Levy, Stromquist, Nagamochi, Burns, Massaccesi · n=21

Hosono (wand125) reports a Lean 4 proof that s(21)=5 with no hypothesis, a formalization of the point-only route T-055 registers, whose Lean reduction took the capture bound as an assumption. Its theorem, SquarePacking.n21pts_eq_5 : minSide 21 = 5, says that the least side of a square holding 21 closed unit squares, each translated and rotated, with pairwise disjoint interiors, is 5; the 5×5 grid attains it.

The lower half, n21pts_ge_5, applies Daniel's BoxTree.le_minSide to the point-only cover renormalised to capture threshold 1, n21-capture-one.txt (4,604 entries of [0,5]^2, total 20998900000168/999948000000 < 21), through a zero-margin box tree over the D4 roots that Daniel's gen_zmtree.py generates: 59,433 Z leaves, 5,876 E leaves and 5,591 clips in 2,076 chunks over 64 files, each chunk one decide +kernel of ZMTree.check, proved sound once. The source reports the axioms propext, Classical.choice and Quot.sound, and an end-to-end run of its build script whose generated data matched its list of digests; it publishes neither the 66 generated files nor a build log. Nothing here has built it.

Hosono after Daniel, square-packing-bounds, 29 September 2026. The Lean library and generator are Daniel's, used unchanged from evand/square-packing; the README says only the theorem file, the axiom report and the build script are the author's. The repository's README says parts of the work were produced with AI assistance under human direction, and the s(21) write-up that its code was developed with Codex.

Significance, composition and next rung
Significance
A proof-assistant route to a value the record holds three ways (T-052, T-055 and the grid), completing T-055's Lean reduction: a citable detail that changes no theorem, as T-055 itself is.
Composition
One cited entry, the source's report (E-n021-wand125-zero-margin-lean-report), which claims the exact value in Lean, the grid inside the proof as packs_grid. T-055's replay and the grid entry are not cited: a proof assistant's check of this route is what the entry adds, and their evidence is T-055's. No build of the proof is retained here, so the entry stands at V0, as T-194 did; no review has read it, so C0.
Next rung
C1 needs the stage 4 mathematical review of the proof, which starts from the packet. V3 and C3 need a build here of the source's recipe from the retained bytes, with Daniel's library staged from the evand packets in place of the clone the script makes, and its axiom receipt (think-tpbd): about 6 to 12 CPU-hours and 10 GB of disk, on a host whose network reaches Mathlib's prebuilt cache. devtools.replay_lean_packet runs it; its generation step has run and matched. That would be reproduction with the producer's code. Rung 5 needs, beside it, a human expert's review of the formalization.
Unfinished confirmations
C1 (think-f2bm): the stage 4 mathematical review of n21pts_eq_5, its statement and the zero-margin route, read from the retained packet. Not priced.

C3 (think-tpbd): a build here of build_zero_margin.sh from the retained bytes, generation of the 64 parts compared with data-sha256.txt, the kernel check and the axiom receipt, accepted only with propext, Classical.choice and Quot.sound. About 9 CPU-hours, up to about 12 (priced 2026-10-23).
Novelty
previously-published Present in an identified source

The case

Case record

n=21

5
456
4.5835.583
nn+1

Proven

s(21)=5

  • optimal
  • exact

Citation record n-021

lowerDaniel after Burns, Massaccesi 2026, GitHub (confirmed T-052)

The case record

LowerUpper
Verified55
Reported55
Gap0 solved: the verified bounds meet

Results on the case

14 results in the register on n=21, oldest first, each with what it established and how it stands now.

  1. 2005 published T-007

    s(n)≥min(⌈n⌉,n−2⌊n⌋+1+1) for 4≤n≤324

    V0 C1 Lower bound incomplete on this case, superseded by T-052

    Nagamochi · Nagamochi 2005 · source · register

  2. 2026-09-04 established T-020

    s(n)≥24/5=4.80 for n=19,20,21

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-052

    Levy after Burns, Massaccesi · register

  3. 2026-09-04 published T-085

    Nagamochi 2005, Lemma 1 is false for every container with a>3 and b>2

    V3 C3 Correction confirmed

    Karakuş; Vlasenko · Karakuş 2026 · chelokot Nagamochi counterexample 2026 · packet · register

  4. 2026-09-05 established T-021

    s(n)≥97/20=4.85 for n=20,21

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-052

    Levy after Burns, Massaccesi · register

  5. 2026-09-23 established T-034

    s(21)≥122/25=4.88

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-052

    Levy after Burns, Massaccesi · register

  6. 2026-09-23 published T-050

    s(21)≥5000/1001=4.995004995…

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed superseded by T-052

    Daniel after Burns, Massaccesi · evand square-packing 2026 · packet · source · review · register

  7. 2026-09-27 published T-052

    s(21)=5, by a mixed cover of points and grid-line segments

    V3 C3 Optimality confirmed

    Daniel after Burns, Massaccesi · evand square-packing 2026-09-28 · packet · source · review · register

  8. 2026-09-28 published T-055

    s(21)=5 by a point-only route

    V3 C3 Simplification confirmed

    Hosono after Daniel, Tokoharu, Levy, Stromquist, Nagamochi, Burns, Massaccesi · wand125 point and mixed bounds 2026-09-28 · packet · source · review · register

  9. 2026-09-29 published T-058

    Rectangle-certificate ceiling α·UB(n) proved for n=1..100; B·UB(n) on 64 grid rows

    V3 C3 Method limit confirmed

    Hosono after Tokoharu, Daniel · wand125 tools 2026 · packet · register

  10. 2026-09-29 published T-083

    s(n)≥1/2+n−⌊n⌋+1/4 for every nonsquare 8≤n≤324

    V3 C3 Lower bound confirmed on this case, superseded by T-052

    Karakuş · Karakuş 2026 · source · register

  11. 2026-09-29 published T-234 this result

    Hosono reports a hypothesis-free Lean proof that s(21)=5, by the point-only route

    V0 C0 Formalization recorded

    Hosono after Daniel, Levy, Stromquist, Nagamochi, Burns, Massaccesi · wand125 n21 zero-margin Lean 2026-09-29 · packet · source · register

  12. 2026-10-03 published T-081

    s(k2−4)=k for every integer k from 5 up; k=5…18 are the cases held here

    V0 C1 Optimality reviewed on this case, second certificate, reported

    Daniel after Burns, Massaccesi · evand square-packing 2026-10-03 · packet · packet · source · review · register

  13. 2026-10-07 published T-124

    Reported non-strict local minima for 178 source configurations

    V0 C0 Restricted optimality recorded

    Daniel after Couzo · Daniel exact and local reports 2026 · packet · register

  14. 2026-10-12 published T-261

    Reported grade-C local minima for 233 source configurations of field degree at most 4

    V3 C1 Restricted optimality incomplete

    Daniel after Schadt, Ellsworth, Levy · Daniel exact and local reports 2026-10-12 · packet · packet · register