Quasirandom Latin squares

Embedding partial Latin squares in Latin squares with many mutually orthogonal mates

We show that any partial Latin square of order $n$ can be embedded in a Latin square of order at most $16n^2$ which has at least $2n$ mutually orthogonal mates. We also show that for any $t\geq 2$, a pair of orthogonal partial Latin squares of order $n$ can be embedded into a set of $t$ mutually orthogonal Latin squares (MOLS) of order a polynomial with respect to $n$. Furthermore, the constructions that we provide show that MOLS($n^2$)$\geq$MOLS($n$)+2, consequently we give a set of $9$ MOLS($576$). The maximum known size of a set of MOLS($576$) was previously given as $8$ in the literature.

On the chromatic number of Latin square graphs

The chromatic number of a Latin square is the least number of partial transversals which cover its cells. This is just the chromatic number of its associated Latin square graph. Although Latin square graphs have been widely studied as strongly regular graphs, their chromatic numbers appear to be unexplored. We determine the chromatic number of a circulant Latin square, and find bounds for some other classes of Latin squares. With a computer, we find the chromatic number for all main classes of Latin squares of order at most eight.

Recent results on Choi's orthogonal Latin squares

Choi Seok-Jeong studied Latin squares at least 60 years earlier than Euler although this was less known. He introduced a pair of orthogonal Latin squares of order 9 in his book. Interestingly, his two orthogonal non-double-diagonal Latin squares produce a magic square of order 9, whose theoretical reason was not studied. There have been a few studies on Choi's Latin squares of order 9. The most recent one is Ko-Wei Lih's construction of Choi's Latin squares of order 9 based on the two $3 \times 3$ orthogonal Latin squares. In this paper, we give a new generalization of Choi's orthogonal Latin …

Enumeration of Latin squares with conjugate symmetry

A Latin square has six conjugate Latin squares obtained by uniformly permuting its (row, column, symbol) triples. We say that a Latin square has conjugate symmetry if at least two of its six conjugates are equal. We enumerate Latin squares with conjugate symmetry and classify them according to several common notions of equivalence. We also do similar enumerations under additional hypotheses, such as assuming the Latin square is reduced, diagonal, idempotent or unipotent. Our data corrected an error in earlier literature and suggested several patterns that we then found proofs for, including (1…

The set of autotopisms of partial Latin squares

Symmetries of a partial Latin square are determined by its autotopism group. Analogously to the case of Latin squares, given an isotopism $Θ$, the cardinality of the set $\mathcal{PLS}_Θ$ of partial Latin squares which are invariant under $Θ$ only depends on the conjugacy class of the latter, or, equivalently, on its cycle structure. In the current paper, the cycle structures of the set of autotopisms of partial Latin squares are characterized and several related properties studied. It is also seen that the cycle structure of $Θ$ determines the possible sizes of the elements of $\mathcal{PLS}_…

Mutually orthogonal Sudoku Latin squares and their graphs

We introduce a graph attached to mutually orthogonal Sudoku Latin squares. The spectra of the graphs obtained from finite fields are explicitly determined. As a corollary, we then use the eigenvalues to distinguish non-isomorphic Sudoku Latin squares.

Rectangles in latin squares

To get another from a given latin square, we have to change at least 4 entries. We show how to find these entries and how to change them.

Completing partial Latin squares with two filled rows and three filled columns

Consider a partial Latin square $P$ where the first two rows and first three columns are completely filled, and every other cell of $P$ is empty. It has been conjectured that all such partial Latin squares of order at least $8$ are completable. Based on a technique by Kuhl and McGinn we describe a framework for completing partial Latin squares in this class. Moreover, we use our method for proving that all partial Latin squares from this family, where the intersection of the nonempty rows and columns form a Latin rectangle with three distinct symbols, is completable.

Quasi-transversal in Latin Squares

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 involving Combinatorics is to find maximum number of disjoint transversals in a Latin square. So finding some family of decomposable Latin squares into disjoint transversals is our next aim. In the next section, we give an equivalent statement of a conjecture which has been attributed to Brualdi, Stein and Ryser by the concept of quasi-transversal. Finally, we p…

There are asymptotically the same number of Latin squares of each parity

A Latin square is reduced if its first row and column are in natural order. For Latin squares of a particular order $n$ there are four possible different parities. We confirm a conjecture of Stones and Wanless by showing asymptotic equality between the numbers of reduced Latin squares of each possible parity as the order $n\rightarrow\infty$.

Completions of epsilon-dense partial Latin squares

A classical question in combinatorics is the following: given a partial latin square P, when can we complete P to a latin square L? In this paper, we will investigate the class of \leqε-dense partial latin squares: partial latin squares in which each symbol, row, and column contains \leqεn-many nonblank cells. A conjecture of Nash-Williams on triangulations of graphs led Daykin and Häggkvist to conjecture that all \leq(1/4)-dense partial latin squares are completable. In this paper, we will discuss the proof methods and results used in previous attempts to resolve this conjecture, introduce a …

On the distances between Latin squares and the smallest defining set size

In this note we show that for each Latin square $L$ of order $n\geq 2$, there exists a Latin square $L'\neq L$ of order $n$ such that $L$ and $L'$ differ in at most $8\sqrt{n}$ cells. Equivalently, each Latin square of order $n$ contains a Latin trade of size at most $8\sqrt{n}$. We also show that the size of the smallest defining set in a Latin square is $Ω(n^{3/2})$. %That is, there are constants $c$ and $n_0$ such that for any $n>n_0$ the size of the smallest defining %set of order $n$ is at least $cn^{3/2}$.

A polynomial embedding of pairs of orthogonal partial latin squares

We show that a pair of orthogonal partial latin squares of order $n$ can be embedded in a pair of orthogonal latin squares of order at most $16n^4$ and all orders greater than or equal to $48n^4$. This paper provides the first direct polynomial order embedding construction in the literature.

On the number of transversals in latin squares

The logarithm of the maximum number of transversals over all latin squares of order $n$ is greater than $\frac{n}{6}(\ln n+ O(1))$.

Parity Types, Cycle Structures and Autotopisms of 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 for the size of autotopy groups. A fast algorithm for finding the autotopy group of a Latin square, based on the cycle decomposition of its rows, is presented.

Intercalates and Discrepancy in Random Latin Squares

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 $N\ge\left(1-o\left(1\right)\right)\,n^{2}/4$, and that $\mathbb{E}N\le\left(1+o\left(1\right)\right)\,n^{2}/2$ (therefore asymptotically almost surely $N\le fn^{2}$ for any $f\to\infty$). This significantly improves the previous best lower and upper bounds. We also give an upper tail bound for the number of intercalates in two fixed rows of a random Latin square. In addition, we discuss a problem of L…

Equitable partitions of Latin-square graphs

We study equitable partitions of Latin-square graphs, and give a complete classification of those whose quotient matrix does not have an eigenvalue $-3$.

Domination for latin square graphs

In combinatorics, a latin square is a $n\times n$ matrix filled with n different symbols, each occurring exactly once in each row and exactly once in each column. Associated to each latin square, we can define a simple graph called a latin square graph. In this article, we compute lower and upper bounds for the domination number and the k-tuple total domination numbers of such graphs. Moreover, we describe a formula for the 2-tuple total domination number.

Mutually orthogonal latin squares with large holes

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. If an incomplete latin square of order $n$ has a hole of order $m$, then it is an easy observation that $n \ge 2m$. More generally, if a set of $t$ incomplete mutually orthogonal latin squares of order $n$ have a common hole of order $m$, then $n \ge (t+1)m$. In this article, we prove such sets of incomplete squares exist for all $n,m \gg 0$ satisfying $n \g…

Difference Covering Arrays and Pseudo-Orthogonal Latin Squares

Difference arrays are used in applications such as software testing, authentication codes and data compression. Pseudo-orthogonal Latin squares are used in experimental designs. A special class of pseudo-orthogonal Latin squares are the mutually nearly orthogonal Latin squares (MNOLS) first discussed in 2002, with general constructions given in 2007. In this paper we develop row complete MNOLS from difference covering arrays. We will use this connection to settle the spectrum question for sets of 3 mutually pseudo-orthogonal Latin squares of even order, for all but the order 146.

Hamilton transversals in random Latin squares

Gyárfás and Sárközy 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 $n \rightarrow \infty$, all but a vanishing proportion of $n\times n$ Latin squares have a Hamilton transversal, i.e. a full transversal for which any proper subset is cycle-free. In fact, we prove a counting result that in almost all Latin squares, the number of Hamilton transversals is essentially that of Taranenko's upper bound on the number of full transversals. This result str…

On completing three cyclic transversals to a latin square

Let $P$ be a partial latin square of prime order $p>7$ consisting of three cyclically generated transversals. Specifically, let $P$ be a partial latin square of the form: \[ P=\{(i,c+i,s+i),(i,c'+i,s'+i),(i,c''+i,s''+i)\mid 0 \leq i< p\} \] for some distinct $c,c',c''$ and some distinct $s,s',s''$. In this paper we show that any such $P$ completes to a latin square which is diagonally cyclic.

Distance in Latin Squares

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 $n$, and inner distance of a Latin square to be the minimum of adjacent distances in the Latin square. By first establishing upper bounds and then constructing squares with said inner distance, we found the maximum inner distance of an $n \times n$ Latin square to be $\left\lfloor\frac{n-1}{2}\right\rfloor$. We then studied special kinds of Latin squares such as…

On uniformly generating Latin squares

By simulating an ergodic Markov chain whose stationary distribution is uniform over the space of nxn Latin squares, Mark T. Jacobson and Peter Matthews [4], have discussed elegant methods by which they generate Latin squares with a uniform distribution (approximately). The central issue is the construction of "moves" that connect the squares. Most of their lengthy paper is to prove that the associated graph is indeed connected. We give a short proof of this fact by using the concepts of Latin bitrades.

Completing Partial Latin Squares - Alternative Proof

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.

具有最大基数的对称量子拉丁方

Symmetric Quantum Latin Squares with Maximal Cardinality

本文证明了所有$n\geq 6$阶存在最大基数的对称量子拉丁方，且所有$4k+2$阶存在最大基数的对称幂等量子拉丁方。

quasigroups和拉丁方的自paratopism

Autoparatopisms of Quasigroups and Latin Squares

研究quasigroups和拉丁方的自paratopism性质，确定n≤17时Par(n)的结构，并分析n趋于无穷时Par(n)在所有paratopism中的比例。

The number of Latin squares of order 11

Constructive and nonconstructive techniques are employed to enumerate Latin squares and related objects. It is established that there are (i) 2036029552582883134196099 main classes of Latin squares of order 11; (ii) 6108088657705958932053657 isomorphism classes of one-factorizations of $K_{11,11}$; (iii) 12216177315369229261482540 isotopy classes of Latin squares of order 11; (iv) 1478157455158044452849321016 isomorphism classes of loops of order 11; and (v) 19464657391668924966791023043937578299025 isomorphism classes of quasigroups of order 11. The enumeration is constructive for the 1151666…

Hall's Condition for Partial Latin Squares

Hall's Condition is a necessary condition for a partial latin square to be completable. Hilton and Johnson showed that for a partial latin square whose filled cells form a rectangle, Hall's Condition is equivalent to Ryser's Condition, which is a necessary and sufficient condition for completability. We give what could be regarded as an extension of Ryser's Theorem, by showing that for a partial latin square whose filled cells form a rectangle, where there is at most one empty cell in each column of the rectangle, Hall's Condition is a necessary and sufficient condition for completability. It …

On the number of Latin squares

We (1) determine the number of Latin rectangles with 11 columns and each possible number of rows, including the Latin squares of order~11, (2) answer some questions of Alter by showing that the number of reduced Latin squares of order $n$ is divisible by $f!$ where $f$ is a particular integer close to $\frac12n$, (3) provide a formula for the number of Latin squares in terms of permanents of $(+1,-1)$-matrices, (4) find the extremal values for the number of 1-factorisations of $k$-regular bipartite graphs on $2n$ vertices whenever $1\leq k\leq n\leq11$, (5) show that the proportion of Latin sq…

Designs based on the cycle structure of a Latin square autotopism

Latin squares have been historically used in order to create statistical designs in which, starting from a small number of experiments, it can be obtained a large experimental space. In this sense, the optimization of the selection of Latin squares can be decisive. A factor to take into account is the symmetry that the experimental space must verify and which is established by the autotopism group of each Latin square. Although the size of this group is known for Latin squares of order up to 10, a classification of the different symmetries has not yet been done. In this paper, given a cycle st…

Note on random Latin squares and the triangle removal process

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 lemmas for random Latin squares, which in particular are necessary ingredients for our recent paper "Large deviations in random Latin squares" (arXiv:2106.11932). Most important is a relationship between uniformly random order-$n$ Latin squares and the triangle removal process on the complete tripartite graph $K_{n,n,n}$.

是否存在不含K33子结构的拉丁方？

Do $K_{3,3}$-Free Latin Squares Exist?

研究是否存在不含K33子结构的拉丁方，构造了阶为16的K33自由拉丁方，并探讨了正交拉丁方的类似问题。

Substructures in Latin squares

We prove several results about substructures in Latin squares. First, we explain how to adapt our recent work on high-girth Steiner triple systems to the setting of Latin squares, resolving a conjecture of Linial that there exist Latin squares with arbitrarily high girth. As a consequence, we see that the number of order-$n$ Latin squares with no intercalate (i.e., no $2\times2$ Latin subsquare) is at least $(e^{-9/4}n-o(n))^{n^{2}}$. Equivalently, $\mathbb{P}\left[\mathbf{N}=0\right]\ge e^{-n^{2}/4-o(n^{2})}=e^{-(1+o(1))\mathbb{E}\mathbf{N}}$, where $\mathbf{N}$ is the number of intercalates …

拉丁方中的横截面

Transversals in Latin Squares

本文综述了过去十年关于Latin squares中transversals研究的最新进展。

拉丁方的极限

Limits of Latin squares

本文发展了拉丁方的极限理论，引入了密度、割距离和极限对象Latinons，证明了极限空间的紧致性与拓扑等价性，并证明每个Latinon可由有限拉丁方近似。

Permutation Patterns in Latin Squares

In this paper we study pattern avoidance in Latin Squares, which gives us a two dimensional analogue of the well studied notion of pattern avoidance in permutations. Our main results include enumerating and characterizing the Latin Squares which avoid patterns of length three and a generalization of the Erdős-Szekeres theorem. We also discuss equivalence classes among longer patterns, and conclude by describing open questions of interest both in light of pattern avoidance and their potential to reveal information about the structure of Latin Squares. Along the way, we show that classical resul…

Upper Bounds on Sets of Orthogonal Colorings of Graphs

We generalize the notion of orthogonal latin squares to colorings of simple graphs. Two $n$-colorings of a graph are said to be \emph{orthogonal} if whenever two vertices share a color in one coloring they have distinct colors in the other coloring. We show that the usual bounds on the maximum size of a certain set of orthogonal latin structures such as latin squares, row latin squares, equi-$n$ squares, single diagonal latin squares, double diagonal latin squares, or sudoku squares are a special cases of bounds on orthogonal colorings of graphs.

On the upper embedding of Steiner triple systems and Latin squares

It is proved that for any prescribed orientation of the triples of either a Steiner triple system or a Latin square of odd order, there exists an embedding in an orientable surface with the triples forming triangular faces and one extra large face.

Lattice path enumeration for semi-magic squares by Latin rectangles

Similar to how standard Young tableaux represent paths in the Young lattice, Latin rectangles may be use to enumerate paths in the poset of semi-magic squares with entries zero or one. The symmetries associated to determinant preserve this poset, and we completely describe the orbits, covering data, and maximal chains for squares of size 4, 5, and 6. The last item gives the number of Latin squares in these cases. To calculate efficiently for size 6, we in turn identify orbits with certain equivalence classes of hypergraphs.

Cycle structures of autotopisms of the Latin squares of order up to 11

The cycle structure of a Latin square autotopism $Θ=(α,β,γ)$ is the triple $(\mathbf{l}_α,\mathbf{l}_β,\mathbf{l}_γ)$, where $\mathbf{l}_δ$ is the cycle structure of $δ$, for all $δ\in\{α,β,γ\}$. In this paper we study some properties of these cycle structures and, as a consequence, we give a classification of all autotopisms of the Latin squares of order up to 11.

On the size of the minimum critical set of a Latin square

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 the size of the smallest critical set of $L$, and $\scs{n}$ is the minimum of $\scs{L}$ over all Latin squares $L$ of order $n$. We find an upper bound for the number of partial Latin squares of size $k$ and prove that $$n^2-(e+o(1))n^{10/6} \le \max \scs{L} \le n^2-\frac{\sqrtπ}{2}n^{9/6}.$$ % This improves a result of N. Cavenagh (Ph.D. thesis, The Univers…

具有最大基数的正交量子拉丁方：基于满秩分解

Orthogonal Quantum Latin Squares with Maximal Cardinality from Full-Rank Factorizations

本文利用有限阿贝尔群的特征与满秩分解及乘积构造，证明了两个无限阶族存在具有最大基数的正交量子拉丁方对。

Latin squares with no transversals

A $k$-plex in a latin square of order $n$ is a selection of $kn$ entries that includes $k$ representatives from each row and column and $k$ occurrences of each symbol. A $1$-plex is also known as a transversal. It is well known that if $n$ is even then $B_n$, the addition table for the integers modulo $n$, possesses no transversals. We show that there are a great many latin squares that are similar to $B_n$ and have no transversal. As a consequence, the number of species of transversal-free latin squares is shown to be at least $n^{n^{3/2}(1/2-o(1))}$ for even $n\rightarrow\infty$. We also pro…

The spectrum of group-based Latin squares

We construct sequencings for many groups that are a semi-direct product of an odd-order abelian group and a cyclic group of odd prime order. It follows from these constructions that there is a group-based complete Latin square of order $n$ if and only if $n \in \{ 1,2,4\}$ or there is a non-abelian group of order $n$.

On extensions of the Alon-Tarsi Latin Square conjecture

Expressions involving the product of the permanent with the (n-1)th power of the determinant of a matrix of indeterminates, and of (0,1)-matrices, are shown to be related to two conjectures that extend the Alon-Tarsi Latin square conjecture to odd dimensions. An identity involving an alternating sum of permanents of (0,1)-matrices is obtained.

Computing the autotopy group of a Latin square by cycle structure

An algorithm that uses the cycle structure of the rows, or the columns, of a Latin square to compute its autotopy group is introduced. As a result, a bound for the size of the autotopy group is obtained. This bound is used to show that the computation time for the autotopy group of Latin squares that have two rows or two columns that map from one to the other by a permutation which decomposes into a bounded number of disjoint cycles, is polynomial in the order $n$.

行哈密顿拉丁方与Falconer簇

Row-Hamiltonian Latin squares and Falconer varieties

本研究首次构造出仅具备列哈密顿或符号哈密顿性质之一的行哈密顿拉丁方族，并用其构建非平凡反结合迷向$L$-封闭拟群簇，解决了Falconer1970年提出的公开问题。

关于使用有理轮廓正交拉丁方的拉丁方中不相交子正方的进一步结果

Further results on latin squares with disjoint subsquares using rational outline squares

本文研究了拉丁方中不相交子正方的构造，提出新的必要条件并给出了构造方法，扩展了已有理论。

A Generalization of Plexes of Latin Squares

A $k$-plex of a latin square is a collection of cells representing each row, column, and symbol precisely $k$ times. The classic case of $k=1$ is more commonly known as a transversal. We introduce the concept of a $k$-weight, an integral weight function on the cells of a latin square whose row, column, and symbol sums are all $k$. We then show that several non-existence results about $k$-plexes can been seen as more general facts about $k$-weights and that the weight-analogues of several well-known existence conjectures for plexes actually hold for $k$-weights.

A new bound on the size of the largest critical set in a Latin square

A critical set in an n x n array is a set C of given entries, such that there exists a unique extension of C to an n x n Latin square and no proper subset of C has this property. The cardinality of the largest critical set in any Latin square of order n is denoted by lcs(n). In 1978 Curran and van Rees proved that lcs(n) <= n^2 - n. Here we show that lcs(n) <= n^2-3n+3.

如何燃烧一个拉丁方

How to burn a Latin square

本文通过研究拉丁方关联的超图探究其惰性燃烧过程，确定了 $n$-一致超图惰性燃烧数的紧致上下界，证明了 $3$-一致超图惰性燃烧数等于最短连通子方链加一，并确定了有限生成群导出超图的燃烧数。

拉丁方阵的横截线共享多个条目

Latin Squares whose transversals share many entries

本文证明了对于所有偶数 $n\geq10$ 和奇数 $m\geq3$，存在具有特定横截线重合性质及子方阵覆盖性质的拉丁方阵，并给出了无横截线条目的下界。

The 3-dimensional planar assignment problem and the number of Latin squares related to an autotopism

There exists a bijection between the set of Latin squares of order $n$ and the set of feasible solutions of the 3-dimensional planar assignment problem ($3PAP_n$). In this paper, we prove that, given a Latin square isotopism $Θ$, we can add some linear constraints to the $3PAP_n$ in order to obtain a 1-1 correspondence between the new set of feasible solutions and the set of Latin squares of order $n$ having $Θ$ in their autotopism group. Moreover, we use Gröbner bases in order to describe an algorithm that allows one to obtain the cardinal of both sets.