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Partial Latin Square


In a normal n×n Latin square, the entries in each row and column are chosen from a "global" set of n objects. Like a Latin square, a partial Latin square has no two rows or columns which contain the same two symbols. However, in a partial Latin square, each cell is assigned one of its own set of n possible "local" (and distinct) symbols, chosen from an overall set of more than three distinct symbols, and these symbols may vary from location to location. For example, given the possible symbols {1,2,...,6} which must be arranged as

 {1,2,3} {1,3,4} {2,5,6}; {2,3,5} {1,2,3} {4,5,6}; {4,3,6} {3,5,6} {2,3,5},

the 3×3 partial Latin square

 1 3 2; 2 1 5; 6 5 3

can be constructed.


See also

Dinitz Problem, Latin Square

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References

Cipra, B. "Quite Easily Done." In What's Happening in the Mathematical Sciences 2, pp. 41-46, 1994.

Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha

Partial Latin Square

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Partial Latin Square." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/PartialLatinSquare.html

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