Related papers: Transversals in quasirandom latin squares
The parity type of a Latin square is defined in terms of the numbers of even and odd rows and columns. It is related to an Alon-Tarsi-like conjecture that applies to Latin squares of odd order. Parity types are used to derive upper bounds…
In 2008, Cavenagh and Dr\'{a}pal, et al, described a method of constructing Latin trades using groups. The Latin trades that arise from this construction are entry-transitive (that is, there always exists an autoparatopism of the Latin…
Latin squares are interesting combinatorial objects with many applications. When working with Latin squares, one is sometimes led to deal with partial Latin squares, a generalization of Latin squares. One of the problems regarding partial…
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.
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…
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…
Two latin squares are orthogonal if, when they are superimposed, every ordered pair of symbols appears exactly once. This definition extends naturally to `incomplete' latin squares each having a hole on the same rows, columns, and symbols.…
A Latin square of order $n$ is an $n\times n$ array which contains $n$ distinct symbols exactly once in each row and column. We define the adjacent distance between two adjacent cells (containing integers) to be their difference modulo $n$,…
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. For a Latin square $L$, $\scs{L}$ denotes…
A defining set of a Latin square is a partially filled-in Latin square which completes to no other Latin square of the same order. We introduce the concept of a $k$-strong defining set, in which if less than $k$ entries are deleted, the…
We introduce consecutive equi-$n$-squares, a variant of equi-$n$-squares in which at least one row or column forms a fixed permutation of $\{1,\dots,n\}$, taken for concreteness to be $(1,\dots,n)$. More generally, the enumeration and…
We develop a limit theory of Latin squares, paralleling the recent limit theories of dense graphs and permutations. We introduce a notion of density, an appropriate version of the cut distance, and a space of limit objects - so-called…
The problem of completing a partially specified n by n Latin square is solved by an alternative proof, based on filling the rows (or diagonals) from 1 to n, using an extended form of Hall's marriage theorem.
For integers $n>2$ and $k>0$, an $(n\times n)/k$ semi-Latin square is an $n\times n$ array of $k$-subsets (called blocks) of an $nk$-set (of treatments), such that each treatment occurs once in each row and once in each column of the array.…
Two Latin squares of order $n$ are $r$-orthogonal if, when superimposed, there are exactly $r$ distinct ordered pairs. The spectrum of all values of $r$ for Latin squares of order $n$ is known. A Latin square $A$ of order $n$ is…
A latin square of order $n$ with pairwise disjoint subsquares of orders $h_1,\dots,h_k$ such that $h_1+\dots+h_k = n$ is known as a realization. The existence of realizations is a partially solved problem with a few general results for an…
This is a companion note to the paper "Almost all Steiner triple systems have perfect matchings (arXiv:1611.02246). That paper contains several general lemmas about random Steiner triple systems; in this note we record analogues of these…
A quantum Latin square is an $n \times n$ array of unit vectors where each row and column forms an orthonormal basis of a fixed complex vector space. We introduce the notion of $(G,G')$-invariant quantum Latin squares for finite groups $G$…
An $n \times n$ partial Latin square $P$ is called $\alpha$-dense if each row and column has at most $\alpha n$ non-empty cells and each symbol occurs at most $\alpha n$ times in $P$. An $n \times n$ array $A$ where each cell contains a…
In 1975 Stein conjectured that in every $n\times n$ array filled with the numbers $1, \dots, n$ with every number occuring exactly $n$ times, there is a partial transversal of size $n-1$. In this note we show that this conjecture is false…