English

An update on the existence of integer Heffter arrays

Combinatorics 2025-10-10 v1

Abstract

An integer Heffter array H(m,n;s;k)H(m,n;s;k) is an m×nm\times n partially filled array whose entries are the elements of a subset ΩZ\Omega\subset \mathbb{Z} such that {Ω,Ω}\{\Omega,-\Omega\} is a partition of the set {1,2,,2nk}\{1,2,\ldots,2nk\} and such that the following conditions are satisfied: each row contains ss filled cells, each column contains kk filled cells, the elements in every row and column add up to 00. It was conjectured by Dan Archdeacon that an integer (˝m,n;s;k)\H(m,n;s;k) exists if and only if ms=nkms=nk, 3sn3\leq s \leq n, 3km3\leq k\leq m and nk0,3(mod4)nk\equiv 0,3\pmod 4. In this paper, we provide new constructions of these objects that allow us to prove the validity of Archdeacon's conjecture in each admissible case, except when k=3,5k=3,5 and s≢0(mod4)s\not \equiv 0\pmod 4 is such that gcd(s,k)=1\gcd(s,k)=1.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2510.08302,
  title  = {An update on the existence of integer Heffter arrays},
  author = {Fiorenza Morini and Marco Antonio Pellegrini},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.08302},
  year   = {2025}
}