The geometric reason for the non-existence of a MOL(6)

The problem of Euler concerning the 36 officers, (Euler, in Leonardi Euleri Opera Ser I 7:291–392, 1782), was first solved by Tarry (Comptes rendus Ass Franc Sci Nat 1 (1900) 2:170–203, 1901). Short proofs for the non-existence were given in Betten (Unterricht 36:449–453, 1983), Beth et al. (Design Theory, Bibl. Inst. Mannheim, Wien, Zürich, 1985), Stinson (J Comb Theory A 36:373–376, 1984). This problem is equivalent to the existence of a MOL(6), i. e., a pair of mutually orthogonal latin squares of order 6. Therefore in Betten (Mitt Math Ges Hamburg 39:59–76, 2019; Res Math 76:9, 2021; Algebra Geom 62:815–821, 2021) the structure of a (hypothetical) MOL(6) was studied. Now we combine the old proofs and the new studies and filter out a simple way for the proof of non-existence. The aim is not only to give still other short proofs, but to analyse the problem and reveal the geometric reason for the non-existence of a MOL(6)- and the non-solvability of Euler’s problem.

Pseudo orthogonal Latin squares

Two Latin squares A, B of order n are called pseudo orthogonal if for any 1 ≤ i, j ≤ n there exists a k, 1 ≤ k ≤ n, such that A(i, k) = B(j, k). We prove that the existence of a family of m mutually pseudo orthogonal Latin squares of order n is equivalent to the existence of a family of m mutually orthogonal Latin squares of order n. We also obtain exact values of clique partition numbers of several classes of complete multipartite graphs and of the tensor product of complete graphs.