On avoiding odd partial Latin squares and r-multi Latin squares

We show that for any positive integer k?4, if R is a (2k-1)×(2k-1) partial Latin square, then R is avoidable given that R contains an empty row, thus extending a theorem of Chetwynd and Rhodes. We also present the idea of avoidability in the setting of partial r-multi Latin squares, and give some partial fillings which are avoidable. In particular, we show that if R contains at most nr/2 symbols and if there is an n×n Latin square L such that δn of the symbols in L cover the filled cells in R where 0<δ<1, then R is avoidable provided r is large enough.     

Latin squares with no small odd plexes

A k‐plex in a Latin square of order n is a selection of kn entries in which each row, column, and symbol is represented precisely k times. A transversal of a Latin square corresponds to the case k = 1. We show that for all even n > 2 there exists a Latin square of order n which has no k‐plex for any odd but does have a k‐plex for every other . © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 16: 477–492, 2008     

Atomic Latin squares of order eleven

A Latin square is pan‐Hamiltonian if the permutation which defines row i relative to row j consists of a single cycle for every i ≠ j. A Latin square is atomic if all of its conjugates are pan‐Hamiltonian. We give a complete enumeration of atomic squares for order 11, the smallest order for which there are examples distinct from the cyclic group. We find that there are seven main classes, including the three that were previously known. A perfect 1‐factorization of a graph is a decomposition of that graph into matchings such that the union of any two matchings is a Hamiltonian cycle. Each pan‐Hamiltonian Latin square of order n describes a perfect 1‐factorization of K_n,n, and vice versa. Perfect 1‐factorizations of K_n,n can be constructed from a perfect 1‐factorization of K_n+1. Six of the seven main classes of atomic squares of order 11 can be obtained in this way. For each atomic square of order 11, we find the largest set of Mutually Orthogonal Latin Squares (MOLS) involving that square. We discuss algorithms for counting orthogonal mates, and discover the number of orthogonal mates possessed by the cyclic squares of orders up to 11 and by Parker's famous turn‐square. We find that the number of atomic orthogonal mates possessed by a Latin square is not a main class invariant. We also define a new sort of Latin square, called a pairing square, which is mapped to its transpose by an involution acting on the symbols. We show that pairing squares are often orthogonal mates for symmetric Latin squares. Finally, we discover connections between our atomic squares and Franklin's diagonally cyclic self‐orthogonal squares, and we correct a theorem of Longyear which uses tactical representations to identify self‐orthogonal Latin squares in the same main class as a given Latin square. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

On nonsingular regular magic squares of odd order

Using centroskew matrices, we provide a necessary and sufficient condition for a regular magic square to be nonsingular. Using latin squares and circulant matrices we describe a method of construction of nonsingular regular magic squares of order n where n is an odd prime power.     

Five mutually orthogonal Latin squares of order 35

Let N(n) denote the maximum number of mutually orthogonal Latin squares of order n. It is shown that N(35) ≥ 5. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Six mutually orthogonal Latin squares of order 48

A direct construction of six mutually orthogonal Latin squares of order 48 is given. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 5:463–466, 1997     

Crisscross Latin squares

Let A be a Latin square of order n. Then the jth right diagonal of A is the set of n cells of A: {(i,j+i):i=0,1…,n?1(modn); and the jth left diagonal of A is the set {(i,j?i):i=0,1…,n?1(modn); A diagonal is said to be complete if every element appears in it exactly once. For n = 2m even, we introduce the concept of a crisscross Latin square which is something in between a diagonal Latin square and a Knut Vik design. A crisscross Latin square is a Latin square such that all the jth right diagonals for even j and all the jth left diagonals for odd j are complete. We show that a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a crisscross Latin square of order 2m is that m is even.     

A graph-theoretic proof of the non-existence of self-orthogonal Latin squares of order 6

The non-existence of a pair of mutually orthogonal Latin squares of order six is a well-known result in the theory of combinatorial designs. It was conjectured by Euler in 1782 and was first proved by Tarry in 1900 by means of an exhaustive enumeration of equivalence classes of Latin squares of order six. Various further proofs have since been given, but these proofs generally require extensive prior subject knowledge in order to follow them, or are ‘blind’ proofs in the sense that most of the work is done by computer or by exhaustive enumeration. In this paper we present a graph-theoretic proof of a somewhat weaker result, namely the non-existence of self-orthogonal Latin squares of order six, by introducing the concept of a self-orthogonal Latin square graph. The advantage of this proof is that it is easily verifiable and accessible to discrete mathematicians not intimately familiar with the theory of combinatorial designs. The proof also does not require any significant prior knowledge of graph theory.     

Orthogonal factor‐pair Latin squares of prime‐power order

We introduce a linear method for constructing factor‐pair Latin squares of prime‐power order and we identify criteria for determining whether two factor‐pair Latin squares constructed using this linear method are orthogonal. Then we show that families of pairwise mutually orthogonal diagonal factor‐pair Latin squares exist in all prime‐power orders.     

Latin squares and superqueens

Let L be a Latin square of order n with entries from {0, 1,…, n ? 1}. In addition, L is said to have the (n, k) property if, in each right or left wrap around diagonal, the number of cells with entries smaller than k is exactly k. It is established that a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of Latin squares having the (n, k) property is that of (2|n ? 2| k) and (3|n ? 3| k). Also, these Latin squares are related to a problem of placing nonattacking queens on a toroidal chessboard.     

Latin and magic squares

Latin squares have existed for hundreds of years but it wasn’t until rather recently that Latin squares were used in other areas such as statistics, graph theory, coding theory and the generation of random numbers as well as in the design and analysis of experiments. This note describes Latin and diagonal Latin squares, a method of constructing new Latin squares, as well as the construction of magic squares from an orthogonal pair of diagonal Latin squares.     

Transversals of additive Latin squares

LetA={a ₁, …,a _k} andB={b ₁, …,b _k} be two subsets of an Abelian groupG, k≤|G|. Snevily conjectured that, whenG is of odd order, there is a permutationπ ∈S _ksuch that the sums α _i +b _i , 1≤i≤k, are pairwise different. Alon showed that the conjecture is true for groups of prime order, even whenA is a sequence ofk<|G| elements, i.e., by allowing repeated elements inA. In this last sense the result does not hold for other Abelian groups. With a new kind of application of the polynomial method in various finite and infinite fields we extend Alon’s result to the groups (ℤ _p ) ^a and in the casek<p, and verify Snevily’s conjecture for every cyclic group of odd order. Supported by Hungarian research grants OTKA F030822 and T029759. Supported by the Catalan Research Council under grant 1998SGR00119. Partially supported by the Hungarian Research Foundation (OTKA), grant no. T029132.     

Quarter-regular biembeddings of Latin squares

We apply a recursive construction for biembeddings of Latin squares to produce a new infinite family of biembeddings of cyclic Latin squares of even side having a high degree of symmetry. Reapplication of the construction yields two further classes of biembeddings.     

Latin squares with one subsquare

We look at two classes of constructions for Latin squares which have exactly one proper subsquare. The first class includes known squares due to McLeish and to Kotzig and Turgeon, which had not previously been shown to possess unique subsquares. The second class is a new construction called the corrupted product. It uses subsquare‐free squares of orders m and n to build a Latin square of order mn whose only subsquare is one of the two initial squares. We also provide tight bounds on the size of a unique subsquare and a survey of small order examples. Finally, we foreshadow how our squares might be used to create new Latin squares devoid of proper subsquares—so called N_∞ squares. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 9: 128–146, 2001     

Some new row-complete Latin squares

Row-complete Latin squares of orders 9, 15, 21 and 27 are given. The square of order 9 is the smallest possible odd order row-complete Latin square.     

Latin squares over Abelian groups

In this paper, parametric families of Latin squares over Boolean vectors and prime fields constructed earlier are generalized to the case of Abelian groups. Some criteria for realizability of this construction are presented. Some classification results are also given. __________ Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 65–71, 2006.