On the number of Latin squares

Abstract

We (1) determine the number of Latin rectangles with 11 columns and each possible number of rows, including the Latin squares of order~11, (2) answer some questions of Alter by showing that the number of reduced Latin squares of order $n$ is divisible by $f!$ where $f$ is a particular integer close to $\frac{1}{2}n$, (3) provide a formula for the number of Latin squares in terms of permanents of $(+1,-1)$-matrices, (4) find the extremal values for the number of 1-factorisations of $k$-regular bipartite graphs on $2n$ vertices whenever $1\le k\le n\le 11$, (5) show that the proportion of Latin squares with a non-trivial symmetry group tends quickly to zero as the order increases.

11 pages