Multi-latin squares

A multi-latin square of order $n$ and index $k$ is an $n\times n$ array of multisets, each of cardinality $k$, such that each symbol from a fixed set of size $n$ occurs $k$ times in each row and $k$ times in each column. A multi-latin square of index $k$ is also referred to as a $k$-latin square. A $1$-latin square is equivalent to a latin square, so a multi-latin square can be thought of as a generalization of a latin square. In this note we show that any partially filled-in $k$-latin square of order $m$ embeds in a $k$-latin square of order $n$, for each $n\geq 2m$, thus generalizing Evans' Theorem. Exploiting this result, we show that there exist non-separable $k$-latin squares of order $n$ for each $n\geq k+2$. We also show that for each $n\geq 1$, there exists some finite value $g(n)$ such that for all $k\geq g(n)$, every $k$-latin square of order $n$ is separable. We discuss the connection between $k$-latin squares and related combinatorial objects such as orthogonal arrays, latin parallelepipeds, semi-latin squares and $k$-latin trades. We also enumerate and classify $k$-latin squares of small orders.Comment: Final version as sent to journa

On the number of additive permutations and Skolem-type sequences

Cavenagh and Wanless recently proved that, for sufficiently large odd n, the number of transversals in the Latin square formed from the addition table for integers modulo n is greater than (3.246)n. We adapt their proof to show that for sufficiently large t the number of additive permutations on [-t,t] is greater than (3.246)2t+1 and we go on to derive some much improved lower bounds on the numbers of Skolem-type sequences. For example, it is shown that for sufficiently large t ≡ 0$ or 3 (mod 4), the number of split Skolem sequences of order n=7t+3 is greater than (3.246)6t+3. This compares with the previous best bound of 2⌊n/3⌋

Latin cubes of even order with forbidden entries

We consider the problem of constructing Latin cubes subject to the condition that some symbols may not appear in certain cells. We prove that there is a constant $\gamma > 0$ such that if $n=2t$ and $A$ is a $3$-dimensional $n\times n\times n$ array where every cell contains at most $\gamma n$ symbols, and every symbol occurs at most $\gamma n$ times in every line of $A$, then $A$ is {\em avoidable}; that is, there is a Latin cube $L$ of order $n$ such that for every $1\leq i,j,k\leq n$, the symbol in position $(i,j,k)$ of $L$ does not appear in the corresponding cell of $A$.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1809.0239

The Trapping Redundancy of Linear Block Codes

We generalize the notion of the stopping redundancy in order to study the smallest size of a trapping set in Tanner graphs of linear block codes. In this context, we introduce the notion of the trapping redundancy of a code, which quantifies the relationship between the number of redundant rows in any parity-check matrix of a given code and the size of its smallest trapping set. Trapping sets with certain parameter sizes are known to cause error-floors in the performance curves of iterative belief propagation decoders, and it is therefore important to identify decoding matrices that avoid such sets. Bounds on the trapping redundancy are obtained using probabilistic and constructive methods, and the analysis covers both general and elementary trapping sets. Numerical values for these bounds are computed for the [2640,1320] Margulis code and the class of projective geometry codes, and compared with some new code-specific trapping set size estimates.Comment: 12 pages, 4 tables, 1 figure, accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Information Theor

Perfect domination in regular grid graphs

We show there is an uncountable number of parallel total perfect codes in the integer lattice graph ${\Lambda}$ of $\R^2$. In contrast, there is just one 1-perfect code in ${\Lambda}$ and one total perfect code in ${\Lambda}$ restricting to total perfect codes of rectangular grid graphs (yielding an asymmetric, Penrose, tiling of the plane). We characterize all cycle products $C_m\times C_n$ with parallel total perfect codes, and the $d$-perfect and total perfect code partitions of ${\Lambda}$ and $C_m\times C_n$, the former having as quotient graph the undirected Cayley graphs of $\Z_{2d^2+2d+1}$ with generator set $\{1,2d^2\}$. For $r>1$, generalization for 1-perfect codes is provided in the integer lattice of $\R^r$ and in the products of $r$ cycles, with partition quotient graph $K_{2r+1}$ taken as the undirected Cayley graph of $\Z_{2r+1}$ with generator set $\{1,...,r\}$.Comment: 16 pages; 11 figures; accepted for publication in Austral. J. Combi