English

Infinite matroids in tropical differential algebra

Algebraic Geometry 2025-08-21 v3 Symbolic Computation Combinatorics

Abstract

We consider a finite-dimensional vector space WKEW\subset K^E over an arbitrary field KK and an arbitrary set EE. We show that the set C(W)2EC(W)\subset 2^E consisting of the minimal supports of WW are the circuits of a matroid on EE. In particular, we show that this matroid is cofinitary (hence, tame). When the cardinality of KK is large enough (with respect to the cardinality of EE), then the set trop(W)2Etrop(W)\subset 2^E consisting of all the supports of WW is a matroid itself. Afterwards we apply these results to tropical differential algebraic geometry and study the set of supports trop(Sol(Σ))(2Nm)ntrop(Sol(\Sigma))\subset (2^{\mathbb{N}^{m}})^n of spaces of formal power series solutions Sol(Σ)\text{Sol}(\Sigma) of systems of linear differential equations Σ\Sigma in differential variables x1,,xnx_1,\ldots,x_n having coefficients in the ring K[ ⁣[t1,,tm] ⁣]{K}[\![t_1,\ldots,t_m]\!]. If Σ\Sigma is of differential type zero, then the set C(Sol(Σ))(2Nm)nC(Sol(\Sigma))\subset (2^{\mathbb{N}^{m}})^n of minimal supports defines a matroid on E=[n]×NmE=[n]\times\mathbb{N}^{m}, and if the cardinality of KK is large enough, then the set of supports ϕtrop(Sol(Σ))\phi \circ trop(Sol(\Sigma)) itself is a matroid on EE as well. By applying the fundamental theorem of tropical differential algebraic geometry (fttdag), we give a necessary condition under which the set of solutions Sol(U)Sol(U) of a system UU of tropical linear differential equations to be a matroid. We also give a counterexample to the fttdag for systems Σ\Sigma of linear differential equations over countable fields. In this case, the set ϕtrop(Sol(Σ))\phi \circ trop(Sol(\Sigma)) may not form a matroid.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2305.04784,
  title  = {Infinite matroids in tropical differential algebra},
  author = {F. Aroca and L. Bossinger and S. Falkensteiner and C. Garay Lopez and L. R. Gonzalez-Ramirez and C. V. Valencia Negrete},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2305.04784},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

To appear in the Canadian Mathematical Bulletin (BCM)

R2 v1 2026-06-28T10:28:49.066Z