Packing Costas Arrays

J.H. Dinitz1, P.R.J. Ostergard2, D.R. Stinsont3
1Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of Vermont Burlington, Vermont 05405, U.S.A.
2Department of Communications and Networking Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering P.O. Box 13000 00076 Aalto, Finland
3David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science University of Waterloo Waterloo Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada

Abstract

A Costas Latin square of order \( n \) is a set of \( n \) disjoint Costas arrays of the same order. Costas Latin squares are studied here from both a construction and classification point of view. A complete classification is carried out up to order \( 27 \). In this range, we verify the conjecture that there is no Costas Latin square for any odd order \( n \geq 3 \). Various other related combinatorial structures are also considered, including near Costas Latin squares (which are certain packings of near Costas arrays) and Vatican Costas squares.