A partial \(m=(2k+1)\)-cycle system of order \(n\) can be embedded in an \(m\)- cycle of order \((2n+1)m\) (Q686159)

Given an integer \(m \geq 4\), an \(m\)-cycle system of order \(n\) is a pair \((S,C)\) where \(C\) is an edge-disjoint collection of \(m\)-cycles which partition the edge set of \(K_ n\) based on \(S\). If the edge-disjoint \(m\)-cycles belonging to \(C\) do not necessarily partition the entire edge set of \(K_ n\), then the collection is called a partial \(m\)-cycle system. A (partial) \(m\)-cycle system \((S,C)\) is said to be 2-perfect provided each pair of vertices in \(S\) is joined by a path of length 2 in (at most) exactly one cycle belonging to \(C\). It is known that a partial \(m\)-cycle system of order \(n\) can be embedded in an \(m\)-cyclic system of order \(2mn+1\) when \(m\) is even, see \textit{C. C. Lindner}, \textit{C. A. Rodger} and \textit{D. R. Stinson} [J. Comb. Math. Comb. Comput. 3, 65-69 (1988; Zbl 0662.05033)]. However in general it was only known that a partial \(m\)-cycle system of order \(n\) could be embedded in an \(m\)-cycle system of order \(m((m-2)n(n-1)+2n+1)\) when \(m\) is odd, although if the partial system were 2-perfect in the odd case, then it could be embedded in a not necessarily 2-perfect \(m\)-cycle system of order \((2n+1)m\). In the paper under review, the authors extend this result to cover the case of \(m\)-cycle systems for odd \(m\), that is, they show that for odd \(m\), every partial not necessarily perfect \(m\)-cycle system of order \(n\) can be embedded in an \(m\)-cycle system of order \((2n+1)m\). To accomplish this, they develop an elegant extension to the groupoid case of a result of Cruse (see \textit{A. B. Cruse} [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 16, 18-27 (1974; Zbl 0274.05016)]), which states that a partial idempotent commutative quasigroup of order \(n\) can be embedded in an idempotent commutative quasigroup of order \(t\), for every odd \(t \geq 2n+1\).