Related papers: New bounds for Ryser's conjecture and related prob…

In this note we show that for each Latin square $L$ of order $n\geq 2$, there exists a Latin square $L'\neq L$ of order $n$ such that $L$ and $L'$ differ in at most $8\sqrt{n}$ cells. Equivalently, each Latin square of order $n$ contains a…

We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for there to exist a latin square of order $n$ containing two subsquares of order $a$ and $b$ that intersect in a subsquare of order $c$. We also solve the case of two disjoint subsquares. We…

Suppose that $k$ is a function of $n$ and $n\to\infty$. We show that with probability $1-O(1/n)$, a uniformly random $k\times n$ Latin rectangle contains no proper Latin subsquare of order $4$ or more, proving a conjecture of Divoux, Kelly,…

A $k$-plane of a $d$-dimensional array is a subarray formed by fixing $d-k$ coordinates and allowing the remaining $k$ coordinates to vary freely. A Latin hypercube of dimension $d$ and order $n$ is an $n\times n\times\cdots\times n$ array…

We prove two results regarding cycles in properly edge-colored graphs. First, we make a small improvement to the recent breakthrough work of Alon, Pokrovskiy and Sudakov who showed that every properly edge-colored complete graph $G$ on $n$…

We show that the threshold for the binomial random $3$-partite, $3$-uniform hypergraph $G^{3}((n,n,n),p)$ to contain a Latin square is $\Theta(\log{n}/n)$. We also prove analogous results for Steiner triple systems and proper list…

An arrangement of s elements in s rows and s columns, such that no element repeats more than once in each row and each column is called a Latin square of order s. If two Latin squares of the same order superimposed one on the other and in…

This article, showing that almost all objects in the title are asymmetric, is re-typed from a manuscript I wrote somewhere around 1980 (after the papers of Bang and Friedland on the permanent conjecture but before those of Egorychev and…

A $k \times n$ partial Latin rectangle is \textit{$C$-sparse} if the number of nonempty entries in each row and column is at most $C$ and each symbol is used at most $C$ times. We prove that the probability a uniformly random $k \times n$…

Every Latin square has three attributes that can be even or odd, but any two of these attributes determines the third. Hence the parity of a Latin square has an information content of 2 bits. We extend the definition of parity from Latin…

We say that a diagonal in an array is {\em $\lambda$-balanced} if each entry occurs $\lambda$ times. Let $L$ be a frequency square of type $F(n;\lambda^m)$; that is, an $n\times n$ array in which each entry from $\{1,2,\dots ,m\}$ occurs…

A $d$-dimensional Latin hypercube of order $n$ is a $d$-dimensional array containing symbols from a set of cardinality $n$ with the property that every axis-parallel line contains all $n$ symbols exactly once. We show that for $(n, d)…

A partial Latin square of order $n$ can be represented by a $3$-dimensional chess-board of size $n\times n\times n$ with at most $n^2$ non-attacking rooks. In Latin squares, a subsystem and its most distant mate together have as many rooks…

In an $n \times n$ array filled with symbols, a transversal is a collection of entries with distinct rows, columns and symbols. In this note we show that if no symbol appears more than $\beta n$ times, the array contains a transversal of…

An intercalate in a Latin square is a $2\times2$ Latin subsquare. Let $N$ be the number of intercalates in a uniformly random $n\times n$ Latin square. We prove that asymptotically almost surely…

The famous Ryser--Brualdi--Stein conjecture asserts that every $k \times k$ Latin square contains a partial transversal of size $k-1$. Since its appearance, the conjecture has attracted significant interest, leading to several proposed…

We discuss the problem of existence of latin squares without a substructure consisting of six elements $(r_1,c_2,l_3)$, $(r_2,c_3,l_1)$, $(r_3,c_1,l_2)$, $(r_2,c_1,l_3)$, $(r_3,c_2,l_1)$, $(r_1,c_3,l_2)$. Equivalently, the corresponding…

A critical set in an $n \times n$ array is a set $C$ of given entries, such that there exists a unique extension of $C$ to an $n\times n$ Latin square and no proper subset of $C$ has this property. The cardinality of the largest critical…

It is known that $N(n)$, the maximum number of mutually orthogonal latin squares of order $n$, satisfies the lower bound $N(n) \ge n^{1/14.8}$ for large $n$. For $h\ge 2$, relatively little is known about the quantity $N(h^n)$, which…

Completing partial latin squares is NP-complete. Motivated by Ryser's theorem for latin rectangles, in 1974, Cruse found conditions that ensure a partial symmetric latin square of order $m$ can be embedded in a symmetric latin square of…