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6 - Latin Squares
from Part IV - The Shrikhande Graph in Context
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2026
Summary
Let n be a positive integer. A Latin square of order n is an n × n array whose entries are taken from an alphabet of size n, in such a way that each row or column of the array contains each letter in the alphabet precisely once.
The “letters” in the alphabet could be letters, numbers, colours or indeed any distinguishable symbols. Figure 6.1 gives two examples.
As far as we know, the first person to study Latin squares was the Korean mathematician Choi Seok-jeong (1646–1715), in his book Gusuryak (Fig. 6.2). The name was given by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707–83); we will see why he chose this name later.
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- The Shrikhande GraphA Window on Discrete Mathematics, pp. 73 - 97Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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