English

Latin squares with non-partitioning disjoint subsquares

Combinatorics 2026-03-26 v1

Abstract

A latin square of order nn with pairwise disjoint subsquares of orders h1,,hkh_1,\dots,h_k such that h1++hk=nh_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 arbitrary number of subsquares, kk. Requiring only that h1++hknh_1+\dots+h_k\leq n gives a variation of the problem that has few known results. In this paper we prove a general necessary condition for existence and completely determine existence when there are at most three subsquares or the subsquares are all of the same order. Importantly, we prove that if h1h2hkh_1\geq h_2\geq\dots\geq h_k and nh1+i=1khin\geq h_1+\sum_{i=1}^kh_i then such a latin square always exists.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.23894,
  title  = {Latin squares with non-partitioning disjoint subsquares},
  author = {Tara Kemp},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.23894},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:36:39.088Z