Related papers: Almost every Latin square has a decomposition into…

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 $d$-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)…

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":…

Let $L(n)$ be the number of Latin squares of order $n$, and let $L^{\textrm{even}}(n)$ and $L^{\textrm{odd}}(n)$ be the number of even and odd such squares, so that $L(n) = L^{\textrm{even}}(n) + L^{\textrm{odd}}(n)$. The Alon-Tarsi…

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…

In this paper, we first present the relation between a transversal in a Latin square with some concepts in its Latin square graph, and give an equivalent condition for a Latin square has an orthogonal mate. The most famous open problem…

A Latin array is a matrix of symbols in which no symbol occurs more than once within a row or within a column. A diagonal of an $n\times n$ array is a selection of $n$ cells taken from different rows and columns of the array. The weight of…

Let $T(n)$ denote the maximal number of transversals in an order-$n$ Latin square. Improving on the bounds obtained by McKay et al., Taranenko recently proved that $T(n) \leq \left((1+o(1))\frac{n}{e^2}\right)^{n}$, and conjectured that…

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 Latin square of order $n$ is an $n\times n$ matrix in which each row and column contains each of $n$ symbols exactly once. For $\epsilon>0$, we show that with high probability a uniformly random Latin square of order $n$ has no proper…

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…

Gy\'{a}rf\'{a}s and S\'{a}rk\"{o}zy conjectured that every $n\times n$ Latin square has a `cycle-free' partial transversal of size $n-2$. We confirm this conjecture in a strong sense for almost all Latin squares, by showing that as $n…

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 $k \times n$…

We recall the Alon-Tarsi conjecture on the number of even latin squares. We introduce a map which switches the parity of a latin square under certain requirements. An example is included.

Let $L$ be an order-$n$ Latin square. For $X, Y, Z \subseteq \{1, ... ,n\}$, let $L(X, Y. Z)$ be the number of triples $i\in X, j\in Y, k\in Z$ such that $L(i,j) = k$. We conjecture that asymptotically almost every Latin square satisfies…

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…

We prove that for all n>1 every latin n-dimensional cube of order 5 has transversals. We find all 123 paratopy classes of layer-latin cubes of order 5 with no transversals. For each $n\geq 3$ and $q\geq 3$ we construct a (2q-2)-layer latin…

In 1975, Stein made a wide generalisation of the Ryser-Brualdi-Stein conjecture on transversals in Latin squares, conjecturing that every equi-$n$-square (an $n\times n$ array filled with $n$ symbols where each symbol appears exactly $n$…

In this note, we study large deviations of the number $\mathbf{N}$ of intercalates ($2\times2$ combinatorial subsquares which are themselves Latin squares) in a random $n\times n$ Latin square. In particular, for constant $\delta>0$ we…

Ever since E. T. Parker constructed an orthogonal pair of $10\times10$ Latin squares in 1959, an orthogonal triple of $10\times10$ Latin squares has been one of the most sought-after combinatorial designs. Despite extensive work, the…