An Analogue of Ryser’s Theorem for Partial Sudoku Squares

P. J. Cameron1, A. J. W. Hilton2, E. R. Vaughan1
1School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, U.K.
2Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AX, U.K. and School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Read, London E1 4NS, U.K.

Abstract

In 1956, Ryser gave a necessary and sufficient condition for a partial Latin rectangle to be completable to a Latin square. In 1990, Hilton and Johnson showed that Ryser’s condition could be reformulated in terms of Hall’s Condition for partial Latin squares. Thus, Ryser’s Theorem can be interpreted as saying that any partial Latin rectangle \( R \) can be completed if and only if \( R \) satisfies Hall’s Condition for partial Latin squares.

We define Hall’s Condition for partial Sudoku squares and show that Hall’s Condition for partial Sudoku squares gives a criterion for the completion of partial Sudoku rectangles that is both necessary and sufficient. In the particular case where \( n = pq \), \( p \mid r \), \( q \mid s \), the result is especially simple, as we show that any \( r \times s \) partial \((p, q)\)-Sudoku rectangle can be completed (no further condition being necessary).