| Abstract: | 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 |
