Mathematicians used “magic functions” to prove that two highly symmetric lattices solve a myriad of problems in eight- and 24-dimensional space.

C. E. Rickart, The Maximal Ideal Space of Functions Locally Approximable in a Function Algebra, Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, Vol. 17, No. 6 (Dec., 1966), pp. 1320-1326 ...

Unlike a linear, graph, a quadratic graph has an equation which includes an x squared term.