Related papers: Overlapping latin subsquares and full products
A Latin square of order $n$ is an $n$ by $n$ grid filled using $n$ symbols so that each symbol appears exactly once in each row and column. A transversal in a Latin square is a collection of cells which share no symbol, row or column. The…
It was shown by van Rees \cite{vR} that a latin square of order $n$ has at most $n^2(n-1)/18$ latin subsquares of order $3$. He conjectured that this bound is only achieved if $n$ is a power of $3$. We show that it can only be achieved if…
In 1782, Euler conjectured that no Latin square of order $n\equiv 2\; \textrm{mod}\; 4$ has a decomposition into transversals. While confirmed for $n=6$ by Tarry in 1900, Bose, Parker, and Shrikhande constructed counterexamples in 1960 for…
A Latin square of order $n$ is an $n \times n$ matrix of $n$ symbols, such that each symbol occurs exactly once in each row and column. For an odd prime power $q$ let $\mathbb{F}_q$ denote the finite field of order $q$. A quadratic Latin…
We report the results of a computer investigation of sets of mutually orthogonal latin squares (MOLS) of small order. For $n\le9$ we 1. Determine the number of orthogonal mates for each species of latin square of order $n$. 2. Calculate the…
We consider the problem of constructing Latin cubes subject to the condition that some symbols may not appear in certain cells. We prove that there is a constant $\gamma > 0$ such that if $n=2^k$ and $A$ is $3$-dimensional $n\times n\times…
The chromatic number of a cyclic Latin square of order 2n is 2n+2. The available proof for this statement includes a coloring that is rather lengthy. Here, we introduce a coloring of cyclic Latin square of even order 2n (the Latin square of…
A classical question in combinatorics is the following: given a partial latin square P, when can we complete P to a latin square L? In this paper, we will investigate the class of \leq\epsilon-dense partial latin squares: partial latin…
A Latin square is an $n$ by $n$ grid filled with $n$ symbols so that each symbol appears exactly once in each row and each column. A transversal in a Latin square is a collection of cells which do not share any row, column, or symbol. This…
The Dinitz conjecture states that, for each $n$ and for every collection of $n$-element sets $S_{ij}$, an $n\times n$ partial latin square can be found with the $(i,j)$\<th entry taken from $S_{ij}$. The analogous statement for $(n-1)\times…
A hypergraph is \textit{bipartite with bipartition $(A, B)$} if every edge has exactly one vertex in $A$, and a matching in such a hypergraph is \textit{$A$-perfect} if it saturates every vertex in $A$. We prove an upper bound on the number…
Let $L$ be an $n\times n$ array whose top left $r\times r$ subarray is filled with $k$ different symbols, each occurring at most once in each row and at most once in each column. We establish necessary and sufficient conditions that ensure…
A Latin square of order $n$ with symbols $a_1,\ldots,a_n$ can be considered as a multiplication table for binary operation in the set $A=\{a_1,\ldots,a_n\}$. We prove that, if this operation is associative, then $A$ is a group.
To get another from a given latin square, we have to change at least 4 entries. We show how to find these entries and how to change them.
There exist pairs of orthogonal Latin squares of any order n except if n=2 or n=6 [Bose, Shrikhande and Parker, 1960]. In particular, the problem of Euler's thirty-six officers does not have a solution. However, it has a "quantum solution":…
This paper deals with distinct computational methods to enumerate the set $\mathrm{PLR}(r,s,n;m)$ of $r \times s$ partial Latin rectangles on $n$ symbols with $m$ non-empty cells. For fixed $r$, $s$, and $n$, we prove that the size of this…
Hall's Condition is a necessary condition for a partial latin square to be completable. Hilton and Johnson showed that for a partial latin square whose filled cells form a rectangle, Hall's Condition is equivalent to Ryser's Condition,…
Difference arrays are used in applications such as software testing, authentication codes and data compression. Pseudo-orthogonal Latin squares are used in experimental designs. A special class of pseudo-orthogonal Latin squares are the…
In a Latin square, every row can be interpreted as a permutation, and therefore has a parity (even or odd). We prove that in a uniformly random $n\times n$ Latin square, the $n$ row parities are very well approximated by a sequence of $n$…
We study conjectures relating degree conditions in $3$-partite hypergraphs to the matching number of the hypergraph, and use topological methods to prove special cases. In particular, we prove a strong version of a theorem of Drisko…