Sets of Mutually Quasi-Orthogonal Latin Squares

David Bedford1, Roger M.Whitaker1
1Department of Mathematics Keele University Keele, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG, U.K.

Abstract

In this paper, we are concerned with the existence of sets of mutually quasi-orthogonal Latin squares (MQOLS). We establish a correspondence between equidistant permutation arrays and MQOLS, which has facilitated a computer search to identify all sets of MQOLS of order \(\leq 6\). In particular, we report that the maximum number of Latin squares of order 6 in a mutually quasi-orthogonal set is 3, and give an example of such a set. We also report on a non-exhaustive computer search for sets of 3 MQOLS of order 10, which, whilst not identifying such a set, has led to the identification of all the resolutions of each \((10, 3, 2)\)-balanced incomplete block design. Improvements are given on the existence results for MQOLS based on groups, and a new construction is given for sets of MQOLS based on groups from sets of mutually orthogonal Latin squares based on groups. We show that this construction yields sets of \(2^n – 1\) MQOLS of order \(2^n\), based on two infinite classes of groups. Finally, we give a new construction for difference matrices from mutually quasi-orthogonal quasi-orthomorphisms, and use this to construct a \((2^n, 2^n; 2)\)-difference matrix over \({C}_2^{n-2} \times {C}_4\).