Self-Similar Hex-Sums of Squares R. BREU ~ eading the very stimulating article by A. van der Poorten, et al. in the Mathematical Intelligencer [1], I realized that self-similar sums of squares have ~. ~ , a nice analogue in what I call self-similar hex-sums of squares, just as decomposing primes of the form 4q + 1 into sums of squares a 2 + b 2 o r factoring 4q + 1 in the ring of Gaussian integers has an analogue in the ring of Eisenstein integers, that is, decomposing primes of the form 3q + 1 into "hex-sums" of squares a 2 + b 2 a b . ("Hex," as the fundamental domain in the Eisenstein lattice is a hexagon, versus a square in the Gaussian case.) Eisenstein integers have the form a -+ b~0, where ~o = ( 1 + X/-Z-3)/2. Their n o r m a 2 -4b 2 + ab corresponds to the n o r m a 2 + b 2 o f Gaussian integers. Both signs can be chosen, as the "upper sign" version is just the mirrored version of the "lower sign," but then have to be used consistently throughout, that is, always the lower or always the upper sign. A norm equation of Gaussian integers, say (a 2 + b 2) (c 2 + d 2) = (ac + bd) 2 + (ad b c ) 2, translates into a similar norm equation of Eisenstein integers