Archdeacon's existence conjecture for integer Heffter arrays

Let m,n,s,km,n,s,k be integers such that 3sn3\leqslant s\leqslant n, 3km3\leqslant k\leqslant m, and ms=nkms=nk. An integer Heffter array H(m,n;s,k)\mathrm{H}(m,n;s,k) is an m×nm\times n partially filled array with ss filled cells in each row and kk filled cells in each column, whose entries use one representative from each pair {x,x}\{x,-x\} partitioning {1,2,,2nk+1}\{1,2,\ldots,2nk+1\}, and whose rows and columns each sum to zero.

Archdeacon's conjecture. There exists an integer Heffter array H(m,n;s,k)\mathrm{H}(m,n;s,k) if and only if

nk0,3(mod4).nk\equiv 0,3\pmod 4.

This conjecture gives the expected necessary and sufficient arithmetic condition for the existence of integer Heffter arrays with at least three filled cells in every row and column. The source presents it as an established conjecture in the literature; its resolution is not specified here.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Fiorenza Morini and Marco Antonio Pellegrini, “Signed magic arrays: existence and constructions”, arXiv:2410.04101 (2026).

Additional references

2 papers in this index state this conjecture (2024). The statement above is taken from the most recent of them; the others are arXiv:2407.15183.

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