On Self Orthogonal Diagonal Latin Squares

K. J. Danhof1, N.C. K. Phillips1, W. D. Wallis1
1Department of Computer Science Southern Illinois University

Abstract

This paper considers Latin squares of order \(n\) having \(0, 1, \ldots, n-1\) down the main diagonal and in which the back diagonal is a permutation of these symbols (diagonal squares). It is an open question whether or not such a square which is self-orthogonal (i.e., orthogonal to its transpose) exists for order \(10\). We consider two possible constraints on the general concept: self-conjugate squares and strongly symmetric squares. We show that relative to each of these constraints, a corresponding self-orthogonal diagonal Latin square of order \(10\) does not exist. However, it is easy to construct self-orthogonal diagonal Latin squares of orders \(8\) and \(12\) which satisfy each of the constraints respectively.