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Research notes on every problem, and a library of the papers behind them. Built from the open erdos repository.

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Claim. Theorem 2 of Erdős and Kaplansky's paper states that the number Lk,nL_{k,n} of k×nk\times n Latin rectangles with labeled rows, columns and symbols satisfies

Lk,n∼e−(k2)(n!)kL_{k,n}\sim e^{-\binom k2}(n!)^k

as n→∞n\to\infty whenever k<(log⁡n)3/2−ϵk<(\log n)^{3/2-\epsilon} for a fixed ϵ>0\epsilon>0. Theorem 1 is the one-row step: in that range the number of rows that extend a given k×nk\times n rectangle is n! e−kn!\,e^{-k} up to a relative error O(n−δ)O(n^{-\delta}), and the asymptotic follows by multiplying the steps. The method is a double inclusion-exclusion, over the columns in which a candidate row clashes with the rectangle and over repeated pairs of equal symbols. The authors note that (log⁡n)3/2(\log n)^{3/2} appears to be a natural boundary of the method and say they believe the actual break occurs at k=n1/3k=n^{1/3}; the sketched expansion of Section 4 suggests, without proof, that the formula ceases to be valid at about k=n1/3k=n^{1/3}. Yamamoto proved the formula for every k<n1/3−δk<n^{1/3-\delta}. The site records the theorem with its range under [ErKa46].

Covers. The asymptotic count for every k<(log⁡n)3/2−ϵk<(\log n)^{3/2-\epsilon}. It says nothing about larger kk, so Problem 725, which asks for an asymptotic formula without restricting kk, is not settled by it.

Acceptance. Refereed: Amer. J. Math. 68 (1946), no. 2, 230–236; the issue is dated April 1946, and the page is dated to the first day of that month. The site's curator records the theorem under [ErKa46] while labeling the problem OPEN, which credits the partial result without settling the problem, so the page lists no reviewed evidence. The library card records the paper's theorems; the proof has not been reconstructed or independently reviewed in this corpus.