The spectrum for large set of disjoint incomplete Latin squares (Q5943888)

A Latin square of order \(n+a\) with a missing subsquare (hole) of order \(a\) is called an incomplete Latin square, \(\text{ILS}(n+ a,a)\). Two such incomplete Latin squares, \(A\) and \(B\), are disjoint if \(a_{ij}\neq b_{ij}\) for all \(i\), \(j\), except for the holes which can always be situated in the lower right. An \(\text{LDILS}(n+ a,a)\) is a (large) set of \(n\) (pairwise) disjoint \(\text{ILS}(n+ a,a)\). The authors completely solve the existence problem of LDILS by establishing that for all \(n\in\mathbb{Z}^+\) and for all \(a\in \mathbb{Z}\) such that \(0\leq a\leq n\), there exists an \(\text{LDILS}(n+ a,a)\) if and only if \((n,a)\neq (2,1)\) and \((6,5)\).